2/5 stars
Today’s thriller movies usually give the game away quite quickly. Ludicrous as it is, Inheritance – which is more of a thriller than a horror – at least manages to keep viewers guessing about the truth until the end.
The story takes place among Manhattan’s ultra-rich set, although budget limitations mean that few of the filthy rich are displayed on the screen. Lauren (Lily Collins) is peeved when her mean-spirited father only leaves her a million dollars in his will, especially as her would-be politician brother inherits a cool 20 million.
Dad also leaves her a video message about a secret he has kept in the garden. That turns out to be a hidden cellar which contains the dishevelled Morgan (Simon Pegg), who’s been chained up there for 30 years because he witnessed her father accidentally kill a boy in a car accident, then bury the body.
Lauren, who just happens to be the District Attorney for the city of New York, isn’t sure what to do with the poor guy – should she follow her code of ethics and let him go, or should she leave him banged up to protect the good name of her family?
On paper, Lauren’s dilemma sound interesting. After all, she is known to be a crusading public servant with high ethical standards. Although director Vaughn Stein ( ) does realise he has got a good idea to work with, he squanders the possibilities by focusing on the B-movie aspects of the story rather than Lauren’s moral choices.
Lauren shows no sympathy for the poor man her father incarcerated, other than buying him some cheesecake and a steak, and spends a lot of time pointing a gun at him while he is chained up. It’s a case of the script not doing justice to the concept.
Pegg essays his role as the captive as well as he can, grinning madly like arch-nutcase Klaus Kinski, and channelling the strange cleverness of Hannibal Lecter. Collins is fine, but her portrayal of Lauren lacks the likeability that the film needs to succeed. It’s difficult for the audience to feel sympathy for anyone involved – every character seems to be crooked and weird in their own way.
And when the nasty ending finally comes, after nearly two hours of teasing, it’s clichéd and unsavoury. Most will find the denouement leaves a bad taste in the mouth, although fans of the genre might be more concerned with the film’s lack of excitement than its skewed morality.
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