Inheritance

Using only iPhones for filming definitely gives this project a unique flavour, a distinctive identity, especially from a filmmaking perspective.

All the events come across as raw, the moments feel unfiltered, making scenes resemble more of a vlog you would find on someone's YouTube channel rather than a traditional movie meant for theaters and home entertainment.

However, it falls short in all other facets.

There's lack of real tension, screenplay is pretty bland, and it misses that sense of stakes and intensity. Plus, I just didn't feel invested in the characters or the journeys they had to take.

Conceptually I enjoyed that this film was shot on iPhones and I thought the cinematography was interesting for all that. I enjoyed some of the twists or smart decision making by our lead character Maya. My favorite part of the film was the tie in with the title at the end.

Now for what I didn't like...the majority of this film is watching Maya (Phoebe Dynevor) run around...which speaks to a lack of plot. What plot there was, was decent...but probably more suited to a short short or a film short.

The film begins with Maya's mother's passing from a long battle with an illness. Her absentee father, Sam (Rhys Ifans) shows up for the funeral and offers Maya, not her sister, a one time job with him in Cairo. It seems to be a no loose situation and might help her answer some questions she has about her dad...only Sam ends up taken almost within minutes of Maya's arrival in Cairo. He is being held hostage in order for Maya to retrieve something Sam has hidden to exchange for him. This leads her to India...and eventually to Korea, where pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

There are definitely some clever things in this film...but again it could have been told in a short with the rest of the running around unnecessary. Didn't quite make it on my recommendation list...unless you just want to see what can be done with an iPhone.

I enjoyed how the camera was weld for this film. Other reviewers I've read seem displeased by the "held camcorder" style, however I found this attempt to be a different and fresh way to use it. For instance, the shots of how pedestrians looked at the main character as she's walking through the streets. It focused on how others perceive her rather than how she perceived her surroundings. Which for the India sequences was true to form. The men are known to gawk at American women and cat call them profusely. Also, never have I felt like an actual tourist to to the many different countries visited in the movie. The tone, pace, shots, extras, and all together vibe made me feel as if I was actually visiting the pyramids in Egypt, travels a train through India, and walked the streets of South Korea. I watch a lot of film and never have felt what it must be like to be a tourist in the locations the movie was at.

The movie is pretty good for an indy film. The story is meh, you pretty much got it figured out. The action sequence is also meh. But what really made this film incredible is the filming style. I don't believe I've ever seen a film this way.

The camera is like a person going along with the character. It is not a found footage, which I hate, or like a 1st person view. It is just different and it worked. I find the camera work smooth and immersive. It literally feels like you are there with the character. It is even better because the film takes place in multiple locations in the world.

In sense it feels like you are taking a vacation to Egypt, India, and South Korea, literally the camera is on the street level and you get to see everything around you like you are actually there.

Overall I enjoyed it. 5/10.

I thought the filming of the movie was very interesting. It had a decent plot and an interesting twist. I think it's a unique independent movie. It was fun to watch people's reactions to them filming, they just filmed in the streets of Cairo and Mumbai (not a closed set). I felt like I was really there in the scenes with the character.

I also felt like the dialogue wasn't that bad. They had a decent script that wasn't cheesy.

It's a good movie to sit back and enjoy when you can't find anything else to watch. Also interesting to see Phoebe Dynevor in this type of action film. I think it's worth the watch.