‘The Inheritance’ Review: Middle-of-the-Road Genre Fare
The Inheritance is a perfectly serviceable horror film that could have been much better. This supernatural chiller occasionally reaches the point of being quite entertaining but never becomes fully immersive. Its lack of originality makes The Inheritance the kind of film you can put on while you’re passively paying attention without missing much. But if you’re looking for something unexpected, I suggest you look elsewhere.
The picture catches up with Drew (Austin Stowell) and Hannah (Briana Middleton) as they arrive at Drew’s father’s (Bob Gunton) estate to celebrate his 75th birthday. After taking care to note that Hannah is an uninvited guest to the soiree, Drew’s father reveals to his children (and Hannah) that he once made a shady business deal and now it’s time to pay the piper. Someone (or something) is trying to kill him. The patriarch secures all the doors and windows and implores his children (and Hannah) to protect him from harm. He subsequently reveals that if he dies, his brood is entitled to absolutely nothing. Sounds like this is going to be a great birthday celebration indeed.
Chris LaMont and Joe Russo’s screenplay is perhaps the weakest aspect of The Inheritance. Their script is formulaic and delivers precious few surprises. That approach can work when every other aspect of the narrative is locked and loaded. I have nothing against a film that effectively delivers on a proven premise. But this picture’s redundant storyline isn’t the only issue I have.
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Aside from a predictable narrative, the film is also filled with uninspired dialogue that does very little to endear the actors to the audience. Worse yet, none of the characters has an actual arc. Each of the key players ends their story exactly where they started. No one is called upon to change or grow in any way and that is pretty anticlimactic.
Moreover, a lot of the decisions the core characters make feel very much designed to move the narrative forward but lack sound rationale. That piece often had me questioning what the hell these people were thinking rather than staying engaged in the story.
I also had an issue with the way the first two acts tell the viewer next to nothing about the central evil at play. That approach is utilized to preserve the twist. And while I understand the rationale, asking us to simply accept that some unnamed supernatural presence is on the loose for reasons unknown proved a bridge too far for me. It might have worked if the presence were more menacing. But the stakes never felt real to me.
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The lack of context makes it difficult to invest in what’s happening early on. A supernatural antagonist usually requires a little more exposition to ensure audience buy-in. It’s easy enough to accept that a masked man with a butcher knife is on the prowl. That doesn’t necessarily require the suspension of disbelief. Nor does it necessitate a grandiose explanation. But with an otherworldly antagonist, it’s different. Just turning a specter loose and expecting the audience to accept its presence is a risky approach.
Worse yet, the twist the filmmakers are protecting isn’t all that revelatory. If we’d been given all the information at the onset, that would have provided the audience more reason to invest in what’s happening and enjoy what works about the film.
And there are pieces that work. Hatley Castle in British Columbia serves as a great backdrop for the action. Choosing a real location allowed director Alejandro Brugués to use unconventional camera angles and vantage points that wouldn’t have been as easily captured on a soundstage. Moreover, the sprawling estate has a Gothic sensibility that adds to the atmosphere.
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Also effective are the death sequences. There is an impressive underwater kill in the first act that is really nicely captured. And there’s a very memorable sequence involving a painting that comes to life that transpires later on. Each demonstrates an impressive level of creativity and both scenes renewed my interest in the narrative as it was beginning to wane.
I came away from this picture wishing the script had been tweaked to fix some of the issues. A little character development and some unforeseen narrative twists would have gone a long way toward making The Inheritance a must-see.
If you’re curious to scope the flick for yourself, you can find it playing in select theaters and on VOD.
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‘The Inheritance’
Summary
‘The Inheritance’ shows a level of promise upon which it never fully delivers.
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