New horror Relic looks set to be the scariest film to hit our screens this year.
The new film from director Natalie Erika James follows the elderly and widowed Edna ( Robyn Nevin ) who mysteriously vanishes, prompting her worried daughter Kay ( Emily Mortimer ) and her granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) to head to their remote old family home to try and find Edna.
However, once the mother and daughter arrive at the family home for Edna but find that a sinister presence haunting the house has taken control of Edna.
The film has already been seen by some critics who are praising the scares that the gritty horror provides, but also the emotional content that viewers will find.
Film critic Jessica King compared Relic to acclaimed horror movies of recent years, writing for Variety: "There are parallels with both “Hereditary” and “The Babadook” here — all three films are female-fronted horrors deeply involved with motherhood, largely confined to one haunted house, in which the evil that lurks in the shadows is really an allegory for a powerful state of psychological breakdown"
Meanwhile, Rafael Motamayor wrote a glowing assessment for Gamespot: "A bone-chilling movie that will earn a few screams and plenty of tears from audiences."
Elsewhere, David Rooney writes for The Hollywood Reporter: "Relic takes its time, but exerts an ever-tightening hold on the imagination."
Digital Spy's Ian Sandwell has also given the film exceedingly high praise, noting: "Writer/director Natalie Erika James's feature debut is set to be one of the most-talked about horror movies of the year and for good reason.
"Relic is not just one of the most terrifying horrors of the year, it's also one of 2020's best movies."
Elsewhere, other writers praised the film for its tackling of dementia.
Wendy Ide writes for Screen International: "A murkily effective horror, Relic takes senile dementia as its central theme, reimagining it as a kind of creeping darkness which engulfs both sufferers and those who are left to look after them."
Finally, Meagan Navarro concluded for Bloody Disgusting: "A bone-chilling and devastating depiction of dementia.
She continues: 'What begins as a more straightforward yet psychological approach to haunted house fare explodes into full-blown horror in a wholly unexpected way, and Relic marks one audacious debut."
We're just scared checking out the trailer above!
Relic is released on Video on Demand in the US on July 10 and is due on UK screens later this year.
What do you think of the look of the Relic trailer? Let us know in the comments below.
