Not that the “monster” of Natalie Erika James’ excellent debut, Relic, is really a monster, but there is something quite monstrous about the evil entity haunting and hounding the 3 generations of women comprising her primary cast. That’s what struck me most about the movie: The impulse to lean into acceptance over the impulse to destruction.
I’m editing the interview I recently did with James by Zoom*, and there’s more detail on that ending in the piece. For now, I’ve got some thoughts on horror about acceptance, dating from 2020 to 2014 (The Babadook) all the way back to Adrian Lyne’s 1990 masterpiece, Jacob’s Ladder.
You can read the full piece over at Polygon.
*This, my friends, is what we in the biz call a “teaser.”
A Constant Visual Feast 