Episode 015: Relic (2020)

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Poster for Relic. An octagonal, colored glass window covered with black mold.
Text across top: Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, Bella Heathcote.
EVERYTHING DECAYS.
Text across bottom: RELIC


Dedicated to the loving memory of my grandmother Dorothy Jentgens, 1935-2021

AnDread and Columbus film critics Hope Madden and George Wolf cover the 2020 Australian horror film Relic. We discuss gothic metaphors of the mind, dilemmas of caring for elderly parents, and developing compassion for people with dementia.

In addition, please check out the Domesticity and the Family in the U.S. Gothic panel that I presented at for the PopMeC 50+ Shades of Golthic Conference. My paper is titled “Share the Trauma: The Home as Transmitter of Disability and Psychic Pain in The Dark and the Wicked and Relic,” and while it focuses mostly on The Dark and the Wicked, I do compare/contrast it with the approach to caregiving for an elderly parent with disability in Relic. You can also check out the other panels and keynote lectures at their YouTube channel.

  1. Intro
  2. Relic Overview  15:30
    • Relic is a 2020 Australian gothic horror film directed by Natalie Erika James and co-written by James and Christian White
    • Produced by Jake Gyllenhaal
    • Stars Robyn Nevin as Edna
    • Emily Mortimer as Kay
    • Bella Heathcote as Sam
    • When Edna goes missing, her daughter Kay and granddaughter Sam come looking for her. When Edna returns, she doesn’t remember where she was and insists that someone or something has been trying to invade her home. Is she suffering from dementia, or is there a supernatural force driven by the family’s tragic past at work?
    • Based on James’ short film Creswick
  3. Relic Discussion  19:20
    • Overall thoughts
      • Metaphor of haunted house as representation of troubled psyche
      • Gothic story, inspires dread, makes ordinary things scary, atmosphere, sense of place, set design
      • Compassion for each character, Edna never demonized
    • Representation of dementia
      • Focus on grief and how dementia affects family, hereditary nature of dementia
      • Does not shy away from difficult and scary aspects of dementia
      • Quote from Hope and George’s interview with Natalie Erika James: “But I think for me, in terms of intention, it was never to demonize people with the disease at all. Of course not. It’s more about the emotional connection and the importance of that in the face of these really scary things. And I think even the fact that you see the story from Edna’s perspective at key points, you really do build a compassion for her, and I guess that was the driving factor as well.”
      • Inspired by James’ personal experience caring for grandmother with Alzheimer’s
      • Symbolic use of mirrors and windows
    • Meaning of title
      • The mold-covered window from cabin where great-grandfather died – family history of neglect haunting house
      • Remnant of essential humanity (see final scene)
    • Family connections
      • Guilt and dilemma of adult children caring for parents with dementia – torn between compassion and need for constant care
      • Kay and Sam have opposite arcs
      • We see things through each of the characters’ perspectives and their struggles
      • The secret passageway/house duplicates the confusion and fear of Edna’s isolation and cognitive impairment – representation of dementia – influenced by House of Leaves
      • Unique among other depictions of dementia, has other characters share Edna’s experience of cognitive impairment
      • Characters come to acceptance of living with dementia
    • Final scene – Incredible range of emotions, from body horror to profound tenderness and love
      • Audio description provides interesting encapsulation of emotional valence: “They sit together, mother and daughter, with Kay stroking Edna’s thin, wispy gray hair. The movement draws Kay’s eyes to Edna’s back, where her flesh is cracked and exposed, revealing a black layer beneath. Kay pulls down Edna’s nightgown, then runs her fingers over her mother’s dry, rubbery flesh. The flesh tears away easily, like a dead carapace. Piece by piece, Kay peels the skin from Edna’s back. She rubs her hand over the black surface beneath. When her hand reaches Edna scalp, the hair comes loose effortlessly. Kay digs her fingers into scalp, exposing more of the black underneath. She stands up in front of her mother and sets to work peeling Edna’s dead face away. When there is nothing left of the old body, when Edna is only a black hairless form, Kay leans forward to gingerly kiss her mother on the top of the head. Erna weakly raises her head, meeting Kay’s eyes. Sam’s in the doorway. Sam cautiously steps into the bedroom. Kay gently helps Edna to lay on her side. She looks down, realizing that her mother is holding her hand. Kay lies down behind Edna, a reassuring hand on her mother’s shoulder. Sam hesitantly crosses the room, and gets on the bed as well, taking her place at the end of the line of bodies, behind Kay. Kay tiredly closes her eyes. Sam is about to follow her mother’s lead when something catches her eye. Sam reaches forward. Peeking out from the neck of Kay’s shirt is the edge of a black moldy mark on her flesh.”
      • Edna stripped down to essence
      • Peeling away skin like parent bathing child
      • Similar to depiction in short film that served as proof of concept, Creswick
      • Final shot cuts away at just the right time – confluence of empathy with suggestion that now Edna’s experience will now continue in Kay
      • Other depictions of dementia and/or elder care
    • Guest plugs
  4. Plugs and Wrap-Up  1:36:03

There will be a transcript for this show in the future. Please contact freaksandpsychospodcast@gmail.com for any accessibility concerns.

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