Pandemic Productions: Relic
Major Spoiler Alert Ahead
Relic’s Opening Shot of Edna (Robyn Nevin)
Home and family. Two ideas that have vastly different connotations and meanings depending on the person. And over the past year, it has become increasingly apparent how important homes and families are. Although if you were living in a haunted house during quarantine, there’s no guarantee it’s safer inside than it is outside. While Natalie Erika James’ debut film Relic (2020) had nothing to do with quarantine it did have a lot to say about family and the relations to home.
Three generations of women come together after the eldest of the trio -- Edna (Robyn Nevin) -- is reported missing. Upon her arrival back home, Edna is confronted by her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) about her whereabouts. Unable to recall her time while missing, Kay begins to suspect cognitive impairment and seeks an assisted living situation. During the time Kay and Sam are living with Edna they become aware of something sinister lurking in the shadows. Edna often talks to someone who isn’t there discussing how her family is waiting for her to die or how she’s frightened.
Though Relic is full of spine-tingling anticipation and creepy dark hallways, the true heart is how James depicts the harsh and gruesome reality of watching someone you love die. But before they actually leave this plane of existence the person quietly fades away. Edna writes notes to herself all over her house, has outbursts of aggression, and completely forgets what is happening at the moment. This degradation is beautifully yet agonizingly displayed when Edna buries her photo album with Kay.
Edna Burying Her Scrapbook With Kay (Emily Mortimer)
The two share a poignant moment where Kay asks Edna to move in with her, but after Edna agrees and they hug she pulls away with a look of confusion on her face. This is where Nevin truly gets to show off her skill. She repeatedly asks “where’s everyone? Where is everyone?” With every word, you can almost hear both of their hearts breaking. Edna is totally and utterly alone while Kay is grasping the depth of her mother’s cognitive decline. Then the guilt sets in. Kay believes she’s neglected her mother and their relationship. Entering the film, the only characters that have a good relationship are Edna and Sam yet that eventually sours as Edna loses lucidity.
The figures that lurk around corners and in the shadows begin to disappear the further Edna’s health fails. Her body slowly decays along with her mind. It’s almost like as her mind falls further she’s unable to keep up with the illusions surrounding her. They abandon her until she is truly gone. At the climax, Edna becomes physically violent in turn chasing away the ones who love her. The scenes that follow this apparent desertion pack a punch that leaves you trying to catch your breath along with Edna.
Kay Helping Edna Remove Her Skin
Kay locks Sam out of the house telling her “[she] can’t leave her” as Sam yells through the door “it’s not Gran anymore,” and that’s exactly right. At the end of someone’s life -- especially when they are suffering from Alzheimer’s or Dementia -- they don’t resemble the person they were. Yet just because they don’t act the same doesn’t mean some parts of their old self don’t still exist. James’ writing choices are intricate; they give you the chills while making you think along with breaking your heart at the same time. She doesn’t end the film with our main characters escaping or demonizing Edna because of her illness. Rather she follows through to the end for her message to get across: caring for someone until their final moment is draining. It drains your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing but it’s all worth it to bring some type of comfort to the one dying.
Edna, Kay, and Sam (Bella Heathcote) Holding Each Other as Edna Takes her Final Breath
Kay does this by carrying her mother to her bed and literally removing her skin until she’s just a husk. Sam comes in to help towards the end (this is my only gripe with this film. How did she get inside?) and together they lay on the bed until Edna takes her final breath. During this time Sam notices bruising on her mother’s back similar to the ones that littered her Gran’s body. With this one shot, James relays a powerful message and realization that we are all fragile beings. Our elders won’t always be around and someday we’ll be the ones taking care of them.