A few years before Emily Mortimer took over the role of Mary Brown in Paddington in Peru, she played another concerned mother in Australian horror Relic.
Mortimer plays Kay in Relic, a woman returning to her remote family home with her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) to take care of her mother Edna (Robyn Nevin), who has dementia.
If you’re into atmospheric, female-fronted horror relying on animatronics rather than CGI, the acclaimed movie from director Natalie Erika James will be right up your street.
So if you want to see it and missed out on its release in 2020, Relic airs tonight on BBC Two at 10pm.
And if you’re out and about on a Friday night but still want to catch the movie, you can also watch it right now on BBC iPlayer whenever you fancy a good scare.
Related: UK film release dates
Relic wouldn’t be a horror if Edna’s cottage weren’t the theatre of some weird, potentially supernatural occurrences, with James — who co-wrote the script with Christian White — putting an emotional spin on the haunted house trope.
The film received its premiere at Sundance Film Festival in 2020 and counts actor Jake Gyllenhaal among its producers, while Anthony and Joe Russo of Avengers: Endgame fame served as executive producers.
The film marked James’ directorial feature debut and put her on the map of the genre filmmakers to watch.
Related: First reactions land for “gloriously bloody” new horror movie Until Dawn
Last year, she co-wrote and directed another horror film, this time a Rosemary’s Baby prequel titled Apartment 7A, starring Julia Garner as Terry Gionoffrio. The film was less well received debuting with a poor Rotten Tomatoes rating.
Next, the filmmaker will helm horror Saccharine, featuring Grey’s Anatomy star Midori Francis as a medical student who takes part in a weight loss craze involving the eating of human ashes and is haunted by the ghost of the person she ate.
Relic airs tonight on BBC Two at 10pm and is also available to watch right now on BBC iPlayer.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
