Inheritance (2025) Interesting guerrilla filmmaking via an iPhone
Neil Burger’s low budget spy thriller almost convinces
In a long ago 2011 I treated myself to a trip to the cinema for director Neil Burger’s then fourth film Limitless and although his four directorial offerings since (Divergent, The Upside, Voyagers and The Marsh King’s Daughter) have all passed me by, I was intrigued enough last evening to take a chance on his ninth film of all time and a film shot exclusively on an iPhone. With Rhys Ifans admirable in a supporting role and an actor I’ve admired since his second film Twin Town in 1997 through to the present day and starring roles in last year’s behemoth Venom franchise but more particularly his deliberately off-kilter performance in Niclas Larsson’s Mother, Couch, your star of an albeit not wholly convincing show is a brilliant performance from Phoebe Dynevor in only her fourth big screen feature film to date.
“Maya” (Phoebe Dynevor) Reeling from the death of her “saint” of a mother and dedicating her life to care for her in her final months, Maya is a reckless and casual thief rocked further by the reemergence of her father “Sam” (Rhys Ifans) in her life after a long absence and immediately offered the chance of her young lifetime to reconnect with her father and assist in his world wide real estate business. But their first business trip to Egypt soon unravels into awkward questions for a father on the run from himself let alone the various Governmental agencies also on his trail and Maya is soon a stranger in a strange land and absent once more of a father feared kidnapped and much, much worse.
Supported primarily by just two further characters of note played very well by Ciara Baxendale as fellow traveller “Emily” and Kersti Bryan as sister “Jess”, this is Maya’s story to tell and whether at home in America or Egypt, India or South Korea, a tale of duplicity and espionage will unravel before you that didn’t entirely convince but absent of the post film information that director Burger had shot the entire film on an iPhone, my notes contained several repeated references that wherever and with whomever Maya found herself, she was almost constantly shot from an extreme close-up point of view or very close in from the side and with a camera constantly moving. Post film once more, from the scant reviews I’ve read, director Burger explained the decision to shoot on an iPhone as purely for reasons of expediency, to arrive at a location and immediately film and for an “experimental style of shooting”. Without this knowledge prior to watching the film (and whilst I agree with the filmmaker’s reasons) I felt incredibly engaged in the rolling narrative right alongside Maya and couldn’t help but admire the occasional dizzying camera angles and views, heightening the tension of the current scene and a building anticipation as to what may lie ahead.
A good film, watched on a whim and whilst not wholly convincing, an enjoyable popcorn romp.
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.
Whilst you’re here I may as well brag about the release of my trilogy of recently self-published books. Beautiful covers eh! As the title(s) would suggest, this is my life at the movies or at least from 1980 to 2024, and in volume 1 you’ll find 80 spoiler free appraisals of movies from debut filmmakers, 91 of the very best films appraised with love and absent of spoilers from 1990–2024 in volume 2, and in volume 3 you’ll find career “specials” on Paul Thomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino together with the very best of the rest and another 87 spoiler free film reviews from 2001–2024.
All available in hardback and paperback and here are some handy links:
"A Life at the Movies Vol.1" - link to Amazon
"A Life at the Movies Vol.2" - link to Amazon
"A Life at the Movies Vol.3" - link to Amazon