Bella Heathcote

With Relic, director/screenwriter Natalie Erika James has crafted a taut horror flick that incorporates aging and dementia into its storyline. The clever use of music and lighting in the film, particularly those long shots of the dimly lit hallways in that creaky old house, really ramp up the fear factor and provides several well-earned jump scares

At first, Relic plays like any number of supernatural thrillers but writer/director Natalie Erika James and co-writer Christian White incorporate genre tropes in smart ways that play into their larger theme. The idea to physically manifest the concept of dementia as a supernatural entity is nothing short of brilliant.