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.

I'm surprised by the number of mediocre reviews for this film-I thought it was quite good. The central relationship between the father and daughter felt believable and emotionally genuine to me.

The film focuses primarily on these two characters, so those looking for nonstop action might find it slow. However, I appreciated the solid writing, acting, and storytelling. While it is a story that has been told before, it still felt fresh and engaging.

Interestingly, I didn't realize the entire film was shot on iPhones until I read about it afterward. The cinematography was engaging without drawing unnecessary attention to itself. In contrast to something like the Bourne series-which often overuses a shaky, pseudo-documentary style-this film employed a similar technique with far more subtlety and purpose.

Overall, this is a quiet, understated, but satisfying suspense thriller-sensitive in its themes and effective in its delivery.

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.

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.

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.