Inheritance

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 is the new thriller by the talented Mr. Burger with an international setting which was shot with an iPhone.

The film was fun in parts, with an interesting premise and a tense chasing scene being the highlights.

Unfortunately i found the writing lazy with stereotypical characters, predictable twists and a "gotcha" finale that you can see coming from miles away.

What i didn't "get" also was the "shot with an iPhone" choice. It didn't add anything new in the handheld camera style cinematography. On the contrary, the image quality on the big screen, especially during the dark scenes and scenes with high contrast was problematic and distracting, looking cheap instead of realistic.

I would recommend this film, if you don't have anything more interesting to see.

Forgettable film from start to finish , besides being in Egypt, India and South Korea. It is true that there is no tension sauf a little in Egypt and more of it in India. I don't know why this movie was made considering what happens in the end.

Is it iPhone filming prowess advertisement? Does it bear a hidden message? Is it a sort of wicked encouragement?

At least, I got to travel without a visa to three beautiful countries glued to Maya.

• Screenplay/storyline/plots: 5
• Production value/impact: 4.5
• Development: 6.5
• Realism: 5
• Entertainment: 6
• Acting: 6
• Filming/photography/cinematography: 7
• VFX: 7.5
• Music/score/sound: 6
• Depth: 3
• Logic: 2
• Flow: 7
• Drama/mini thriller/conspiracy/mini action: 5
• Ending: 3.

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.