Relic (2020)

 Dementia is not an obviously comfortable subject, but with "Relic", much like the extraordinary episode of Castle Rock with Sissy Spacek, The Queen, tackling it in a visual way takes a visionary dedicated to exploring this horrifying brain monster, gobbling up coherence and clarity, leaving in its wake a husk once occupied by someone wonderful. I credit Natalie Erika James for the daring it took to confront subject matter and spin it in such a unique way never before attempted. My mother has watched her brother waste away to an early onset Alzheimer's in his 50s. My great grandmother had dementia and died of it. So it is in my own family. I realize that I could be the very peeled-away shell Edna (Robyn Nevin) eventually becomes. When I have issues with memory or suffer a brain fart, that bit of terror does arise. When Sam (Bella Heathcote) realizes her mother, Kay (Emily Mortimer), might have this same "mold", a repeat of Edna's condition and eventual end sets in. The disorientation and mood swings, memory loss and off-stares, the missing time and erratic behavior, with brief (and welcome) moments of cognitive lucidity: this film covers all that but also decides to take Kay and Sam into this enveloping mental horror. I like how the mold is used to describe that deterioration and the sound design further elaborates what Edna endures. And especially disturbing is how Edna evolves into something terrifying (dementia is that), only for Kay to not leave her behind but ease her mother into a state of peace by "stripping away" the rot and allowing her to rest. It is said that the ending allows Kay to understand and accept her Edna's condition while Sam isn't quite prepared until she herself must confront her own mother's fate. The house has post-it notes as little reminders to help Edna remember just basic things about herself, her increasing concerns about "saving" her memories (photographs, in particular) includes eating them and burying them in the woods, Edna went missing which caused law enforcement to contact her daughter and granddaughter to begin with, she left a special-needs neighbor locked in a room, and the house is more and more cluttered with Edna's possessions, scattered and piled up. Like Kay and Sam, we go down that dark hole. It is depressing and heart-breaking. 4/5