Inheritance: No frills, no thrills here
‘Inheritance’ is a failed attempt at a stylish thriller shot guerrilla-style on an iPhone. It’s a father-daughter espionage drama that is more interested in the relationship mechanics than providing the requisite thrills one would expect from a genre thriller.
The movie, written by director-writer Neil Burger and Olen Steinhauer, focuses on 20-something Maya, who is being pursued across Egypt, India and South Korea.
Maya is neither an assassin nor a spy. She has spent the past nine months caring for her dying mother. At her wake, Maya and her sister are surprised to see their estranged father, Sam (Rhys Ifans), whom they don’t know very well.
Sam wants to make up for his neglect and invites Maya to a business trip that will pay her a thousand dollars a day. Maya, who has been shoplifting, swigging liquor and having indiscriminate sex, understandably, needs a break. So, she decides to go.
The movie plays rather superficially, with Maya being left in the lurch and having to run across countries to get her father released from kidnappers who want something from a safe box in India. ‘Inheritance’ tries the ‘real world’ approach to thrillers, but as a viewer, there’s very little to hold on to or be entertained. Maya is running for her life but we never get to feel the panic or the agitation that the construct arouses. Also, there are no guns or fire power to up the ante here. Maya, in fact, never seems to be in any real danger. She is on the run, but it’s a fruitless one for the viewer, and for Maya herself.
She looks pretty and elegant as she slips in and out of Delhi and Seoul like a frequent traveller and not having clothes and enough money doesn’t seem to affect that look much. There’s plenty of time for soul searching but we don’t get to that point either.
Burger and cinematographer Jackson Hunt appear to be really invested in presenting Maya’s character in an eye-pleasing manner, but it doesn’t help the movie experience. Phoebe Dynevor’s facial expressions are apt but the sketchy role doesn’t demand any depth.
Despite having scenes staged in public guerrilla-style, you don’t feel the urgency or spontaneity here. There’s no sense of a threat and nothing explosive happens. The film fails to generate excitement for its viewers. Burger is more obsessed with in-the-moment cinematography than telling a potent story, and there’s very little energy going into the final act.
Neil Burger (‘Divergent’, ‘Limitless’, ‘The Illusionist’) and co-writer, spy novelist Olen Steinhauer, ply a plot that’s too low scale for the audience. Despite its multinational sprawl, the film is a two-person drama about Daddy issues; it neither works as a drama nor as a thriller.
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