Written and directed by Neil Burger, co-written by Olen Steinhauer, when Maya learns her father Sam was once a spy, she suddenly finds herself at the centre of an international conspiracy. Starring: Phoebe Dynevor, Rhys Ifans, Majd Eid, Ciara Baxendale, Kersti Bryan and Necar Zadegan.
Shooting on an iPhone is an excellent idea for up and coming filmmakers who have very limited budgets but for a film like Inheritance? It unfortunately basically defeats the purpose. Globetrotting spy flicks cry out to be stylistic and sleek, so to purposefully scale it back so far was a disappointing choice. We see the sparks of what this film could have been with a bold and calculated hand at the wheel. Yet, what we actually get feels too thin and its plainness occasionally feels distracting.
It’s a risky choice and it doesn’t entirely pay off, especially when it doesn’t have an original or complicated enough story to back it up. The problem is that when your audience is going to be suspicious from the start, you have to add a lot of layers and twists to make it worth their while. Let’s face it, father or not, if a person suddenly shows up after being absent and immediately asks you to travel to another country and offers a lot of money, you should question it. So, since most people will be able to figure out where this is going, sadly there’s not enough that you can’t figure out to keep you fully invested.
That’s not to say it has nothing going for it, even being predictable, Burger still does a good job of building tension. It’s also never not interesting to watch characters trapse around different countries, the location choices are excellent. There’s a good score at work, it’s minimal but effective and really kicks in at the right moments. It may not be new ground but if you are a fan of this type of spy driven adventure, there’s plenty to enjoy.
Phoebe Dynevor does well to lead the way, she keeps you plugged in, even when the story isn’t quite up to the job. With how they’ve styled her character, it’s very difficult to not immediately feel like she’s doing her best Dakota Johnson impression. That’s not necessarily a bad thing but at the same time, not many people can achieve that kind of aloof, debonair presence that Johnson has and Dynevor isn’t one of them. It’s too high of a bar to set, whether it be intentional or not. The performance is good and she’s one of the best things that Inheritance has going for it, but it’s missing that striking factor.
Inheritance has a solid tension and will satisfy that itch if you’re looking to watch a low-key spy film but unfortunately, it’s making a lot of choices which limit its success. Phoebe Dynevor gives a captivating performance, and Rhys Ifans is utterly reliable as always, they make for a great pairing. It does however suffer from the delusion of a clever ending, which in reality is pretty transparent and way too easy, it’s patting itself on the back without considering the many consequences to its choices. It’s a good example of how this story is simply too familiar.
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