Ryan Bowman (Chase Joliet) inherits beachfront property from the biological father he believed dead long ago. He moves in there with his pregnant Fiancé Isi (Sara Montez) and together they sell the house for several million dollars and live happily ever after, the end. No, you know that's not how it ends, not at all. Written and directed by Tyler Savage, INHERITANCE is a psychological thriller that sometimes verges into the supernatural, while keeping the mystery ambiguous enough to keep it from being easily labeled as a horror film.
The moment Ryan moves into the house, something happens to him and begins overtaking and reshaping reality around him. Ghastly visions repeat again and again, driving him to the edge of sanity. The deliberate pace, the flashes of sepia family photographs, the haunting score it all leads to a ghastly revelation involving Ryan's family and the clues to what is in store for him. The familiar tropes where an unassuming family move into a potentially haunted house which holds its influence over a family member and drives them to insanity have been seen from THE SHINING to THE AMITYVILLE HORROR however, INHERITANCE deals with something altogether different and perhaps even more primal. The secret is in the title itself, perhaps Ryan's true inheritance is not the property but something else cursing through his veins, something that makes him (and us) question if blood is what dictates our destiny.
Tyler Savage directs the hell out of this film. Brilliantly shot, composed and paced through careful editing, this is one hell of a calling card. Every shot is meant to sell cast and crew's skills as storytellers and ensure that their film careers are firmly cemented. This is not a B movie, it takes those elements and subverts them giving us something far more incisive. It's not "scary" because of ghosts or frights, it's scary because of what it says about the human condition and about what our family history may say of us.
INHERITANCE wants to unsettle you with ideas rather than jump scares and it succeeds.
Review By Enrrico Wood Lagonigro - Senior Curator Oaxaca FilmFest.
The moment Ryan moves into the house, something happens to him and begins overtaking and reshaping reality around him. Ghastly visions repeat again and again, driving him to the edge of sanity. The deliberate pace, the flashes of sepia family photographs, the haunting score it all leads to a ghastly revelation involving Ryan's family and the clues to what is in store for him. The familiar tropes where an unassuming family move into a potentially haunted house which holds its influence over a family member and drives them to insanity have been seen from THE SHINING to THE AMITYVILLE HORROR however, INHERITANCE deals with something altogether different and perhaps even more primal. The secret is in the title itself, perhaps Ryan's true inheritance is not the property but something else cursing through his veins, something that makes him (and us) question if blood is what dictates our destiny.
Tyler Savage directs the hell out of this film. Brilliantly shot, composed and paced through careful editing, this is one hell of a calling card. Every shot is meant to sell cast and crew's skills as storytellers and ensure that their film careers are firmly cemented. This is not a B movie, it takes those elements and subverts them giving us something far more incisive. It's not "scary" because of ghosts or frights, it's scary because of what it says about the human condition and about what our family history may say of us.
INHERITANCE wants to unsettle you with ideas rather than jump scares and it succeeds.
Review By Enrrico Wood Lagonigro - Senior Curator Oaxaca FilmFest.