Inheritance

Inheritance (2025) is the newest movie from Neil Burger and it was very mediocre.

Positives for Inheritance (2025): The performance from the lead actress was good enough for what she had to work with. I have to give props to Burger for directing this movie on an iPhone. And finally, the movie does everything it's suppose to do and it works for the most part.

Negatives for Inheritance (2025): This is a movie I've watched so many times before where you have a character who hides out secrets from one of their family members and they have to help them out in a conspiracy. The villains are very forgettable and there is a twist in the movie I saw coming from a mile away. And finally, the movie is very forgettable with its execution.

Overall, Inheritance 92025) is a basic spy thriller move that does nothing new aside from the generic stuff from these movies and that is just boring.

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.

No pun intended and the literal father meant. As in not a priest or something like that. Blood is thicker than water they say - but how much and far would you go for family? There is a line you probably shouldn't cross ... on the other hand: it would be a bad movie if she stopped half way through.

That all said, good acting, decent story (even if predictable) ... a nice little thriller. That could - as could she (the main protagonist that is) ... or could she?

Inheritance feels like it was made on a modest budget, but that actually works in its favor. The handheld, action-cam style gives it a gritty, immersive feel without being distracting. The story is fine; nothing groundbreaking, but it holds your attention, and the ending ties it all together nicely. The cast delivers solid performances, and the locations are visually interesting. But the real standout is the soundtrack. Seriously impressive work by Paul Leonard-Morgan. It's layered, tense, and adds so much atmosphere. Overall, it's a decent watch with just enough mood and momentum to make it worthwhile.

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.