The new IFC Midnight horror movie Relic focuses on three generations of a family, and what happens when the matriarch might be losing her mind. It's no secret among horror fans that the genre's best films often come from outside the Hollywood studio system. In a given year, it's quite common to see best-of lists released that give half of their slots, if not more, to independently released films. It's not hard to understand why that is, as big studios are often content to simply play it safe, pumping out clones of what worked before.
In recent years, a label to watch when it comes to indie horror films has been IFC Midnight. While IFC Midnight is an offshoot of IFC Films, itself an offshoot of AMC Networks, the movies it releases still very much carry the independent spirit, as the company usually acquires movies after they've already been made. That's the case with Relic, the directorial debut of Australian writer/director Natalie Erika James.
Relic earned raves when it premiered at Sundance in January 2020, and judging by its 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, general horror audiences are in for a treat when it releases this summer. Here's everything we know about Relic ahead of its wide debut.
Relic Release Date
Those interested in Relic won't have to wait long to check it out, as IFC Midnight plans to release the film via video on demand and in some theaters on July 10, 2020. How many theaters it'll actually play in remains to be seen, due to the continually fluctuating status of big theater chains' reopening plans. At the very least, Relic might be screening at drive-ins, for anyone who lives nearby one.
Relic Plot Details
In Relic, when mother Kay (Emily Mortimer, The Newsroom) and her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote, The Neon Demon) go out to their family's secluded home in the woods, they expect to find Edna (Robyn Nevin, Gods of Egypt) waiting for them. Unfortunately, their mother/grandmother is nowhere to be found, that is until she mysteriously reappears, mentioning some kind of entity that had gotten inside the house, and seemingly mentally disoriented. Kay quickly comes to the conclusion that Edna is simply suffering from dementia, but when she sees something to, it begins to look like there's something stranger going on.
Relic Trailer
IFC Midnight has released the full trailer for Relic, which can be seen above. It sets quite the creepy mood for the film, especially thanks to the woodsy location. Horror films taking place in the woods might be a cliche, but there's something to be said for the dangers of living so far from the rest of society.
