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Today I am going to explain an Australian horror called Relic. This is a film with a difference. It has lots of hidden meanings. It's a metaphoric film. The film is directed by Natalie Erica James. It's her debut film. She did an excellent job. Please watch till the end because here you will get a surprise. The film starts in a big house in rural Australia on Christmas Day. An old lady, Edna, was standing naked in a trance. Now after 1 year Edna's daughter Kay and Grand Daughter arrive there to meet Edna. They don't find their Mom/Grandma. Neighbours say they have not seen Edna leaving the house for a while, meaning she was not in the house or outside. Edna's house looked like a warehouse. Her house was consumed with black moulds. Her house was consumed with black moulds. Stuffs were scattered. Fruits Rotted. Doors had new locks. The paper notes were everywhere.
Some contained simple reminders like setting an alarm, cooking food etc. Some had sinister notes, like stay away from them, DON'T FOLLOW IT. It seems Edna had dementia which caused memory loss and effected her day-to-day functioning. Now Kay informs Mike, and they start searching in the jungle. Sam and Kay starts cleaning the house. Sam hears a fishy sound in the store room. When she checked it, there was nothing. Now Edna's neighbour's kid and Sam's childhood friend, Jamie, refuses to enter the house. He checks on Sam from a distance and smokes with Sam. Jaime had Down syndrome. Later Sam and Kay hear a tapping noise behind the main hall wall. That wall had a lot of black moulds. Later in a dream, Kay sees an old man in an empty cabin. That old guy's body turned black, he was horrific in look. He dies there suddenly. Next day Edna arrives and starts to make tea. Upon asking, she says she can't remember where she was. She had a totally different behavior. The doctor gives her a clean chit after the physical test. But asks how she got that black mold on her chest? Edna rubs it off by saying I don't know. How I got it.
The doctor advices Kay not to leave Edna alone. Kay was very busy, she was not in the position of handling Edna. Kay thinks an old age home will be the best option for her. At night Sam finds a sketch book, there was a sketch of that cabin which Kay saw in her dream. Kay says it was her great-grandfather's house. He had dementia too. His family abandoned him, and he died alone. Some parts of that house were used to build Edna's house. Meaning that front glass window. At night Edna was again muttering something while standing alone. Kay takes her to bed. Edna Says He is below my bed, check it. Kay tries to convince her that there is no one. Upon Edna's insistence, kay examines it. She did see something moving there.
Then Edna suddenly drops a book on the floor. The noise causes Kay to get hit hard on the head. Kay angrily shouts at her mom for doing it deliberately. Edna's dementia was getting worse. Next day Kay checks an old age home in Melbourne. She was happy with its felicities. Edna was a misfit for her busy life, hence she books a slot while crying with guilt. Meanwhile, Edna behaves strangely in the house. One moment she was happy, dancing with Sam. Next she violently attacks Sam for her ring, which she only gave it to her. That night standing in front of the store room. She says he might have come this way. After his arrival, strange things were happening. It feels strange. All memories are getting lost. Now another dream haunts Kay. She saw Edna in that cabin. The whole cabin and front glass got covered in black mold which was on Edna's chest. Next Sam asks her neighbor why they don't send Jaime to Edna's house anymore.
Alex says a few months ago Jaime was playing hide and seek with Edna. He was hiding in the store room. Edna locked him there. He was there for hours. Even after hearing Jamie's voice, she didn't open the door. From that incident Jaime's parents stopped him from playing with Edna. Now Edna runs from the house with a photo album. Kay follows her. Edna tries to bury it in the ground. In a bizarre instance she tried to eat some photos. Kay stops her in shock. Edna says this is the only way to save memories, else it will destroy all. Here Kay under stands that her mom's mental health is fragile. Kay finally understands her mistake and says she will look after her personally. Now Sam was again checking that store-room. She finds a new door and enters it. She finds a way which was not ending. Scared Sam back tracks her way. The door through which she entered was not there either. Actually, there was a labyrinth in the store room. In the beginning, we heard some voice from the main hall wall. When Edna was missing. I guess she might be trapped here and eventually get out some how. She did indeed touch Kay's head before making tea.
Now Sam was trapped there. She saw Edna's notes there implying she used to come here. Meanwhile Edna is now taking a bath. The black mould on her chest was spreading everywhere. To remove it, she stabs herself with a knife. After seeing water over flow, Kay asks her, Are you okay? When she gets no answer, she forcefully enters the bathroom. Asks her what she's doing with her chest. At that moment, the power goes off. In darkness, Edna runs towards the store-room. Kay follows her with a candle. Edna enters the same labyrinth in which Sam was trapped. Strangely, Edna's white skin starts to peel off here. She starts to resemble that old black guy which Kay saw in her dream. Here Edna attacks Kay violently as if some demon has possessed her.
Now Kay runs from her and meets with Sam. They both end up at a dead end which happens to be the main hall wall of the house. They start to hit hard at that wooden wall with a steel rod to make a way out. Meanwhile, Edna also arrives there to attack them. When all three arrive at the main hall, Sam hits Edna pretty hard with a steel rod, Edna Faints.
It seems Edna was possessed by demonic power which was turning her skin to black. Well, this was just a metaphor—she was dying slowly. Now Sam and Kay are running away from this house. While passing, Kay saw a glass window which reminds her of her great-grand dad who was left to die. She was also doing the same thing. She accepts her mistakes and enters the house. She lifts Edna's black body and place it on the bed. She kissed that horrific looking creature. Which signifies she has accepted her mom's old age. She sleeps besides that thing, later Sam also sleeps with it. Later Sam notices a black mold on Kay's back, signaling she will get dementia. Sam will see her mother like this too.
The film ends here. So this is a non-straight-forward film about dementia, shown from a horror angle. Dementia is not a single disease, it's a cluster of diseases. Most people just call it memory loss. Every part of the film explains symptoms of dementia. If you have a clean mind, then you will keep cleanliness around, it will manifest around you. The house looking as if a warehouse was an example of bad mind. Edna knew she was forgetting, hence she used paper notes. The labyrinth symbolizes consciousness of mind. How it gets trapped every day in our own memories. The black mold on the chest symbolizes slow progression of dementia. The story of the great-grand dad shows its genetic nature. How it can be passed on to the next generations.
At the end, Edna is shown as a black creature symbolizing people's treatment towards dementia patients as demons. Moral of the story, take good care of your elders. The film has a proper blend of horror and social message. Please take good care of your elders.
