When reviewing a filmreading the director’s statement can feel an awful lot like controls their will. What an artist intended with the choices they left behind doesn’t always matter to the audience, though Neil Burgers “Inheritance” is worth investigating before you buy the ticket. Knowing how this oddly pedestrian thriller was produced not only makes it much more enjoyable to watch, but also highlights a new storytelling approach that might work better on the second try.
Captured on location in Egypt, India, South Korea and New York City, IFC Films’ latest suspense experiment – a father-daughter espionage adventure starring Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans — using a naturalistic photography style that spurred some great behind-the-scenes stories. Burger, known for films like “Limitless” and “Divergent”, aimed to make another lame psychological drama with mainstream action, but this time he tried to give it some extra punch by increasing the authenticity. Many of the so-called “actors” in “Inheritance” are real people who unwittingly encountered Burger’s small cast and crew, who mostly made the film public using an iPhone.
The story of “Inheritance” is largely scripted but flexible enough to accommodate that unpredictability to a point. The plot follows the steely Maya (Dynevor) as she grapples with the revelation that her father, Sam (Ifans), is a dangerous spy who has just been kidnapped. Worse, she’s tasked with brokering her father’s release in exchange for an iPad chock-full of valuable international secrets. Before long, she fends off a terrifying INTERPOL agent (Necar Zadegan), escapes various pursuers on the back of a scooter, and gets a crash course in the family business—all while bouncing between continents.
The plot evokes something like a student-made “Tomb Raider,” and the more emotional beats would be completely imperceptible if not for the unique real-world obstacles Burger’s artists face. According to press notes, Dynevor remained in character throughout filming, even taking a sip of booze on a public sidewalk (before being grilled by the NYPD) and stealing a pair of expensive sunglasses from an airport kiosk (before the crew surreptitiously returned the item). The fallout from these specific interactions didn’t make it to the final episode of “Inheritance,” but they create an unpolished tone that makes this smart but sloppy heroine feel far more original than the familiar story would otherwise allow.
The filmmaker wrote the script together with Olen Steinhauer. The conspiracy at its center is compelling enough but might have done better with dialogue that was less noisy. Chunky proclamations call attention to the film’s most clichéd tendencies — like when Maya reveals her mother is dead (a classic backstory!) and explains to her father about their complicated grief, “The guilt hit me like a shovel to the skull.” It’s a reasonable enough line for a low-budget spy thriller but doesn’t fit the guerilla style Burger wanted to direct. Still, Dynevor and Ifans do their best to present these bursts of unintentional melodrama in a straightforward manner. More forgiving audiences might accept them as organic occurrences in a world vaguely akin to a lo-fi “Jessica Jones,” but they do little to make Maya or Sam more likable, and the duo’s chemistry is practically non-existent.
With only two days to make the handover and ensure Sam’s safety, “Inheritance” starts a ticking clock for Maya that somehow fails to build up the tension after the first few laps. The copious amounts of sunlight in the film can create a monotonous unity, and for all her efforts to seem cool, Dynevor’s stoicism falls flat against that backdrop. That said, if you’re familiar with the “hidden camera” quality behind this sometimes sluggish film, you can find a lot to appreciate on the periphery of its flaws. Realizing that the strange men who stalk Dynevor from almost every corner of the film actually worked their brush with a Hollywood A-lister is fascinating to watch. As the “Bridgerton” actress clambers through train cars and back alleys, her striking appearance collides with reality to create a pulse-pounding recognizability that’s not obvious but fun to discover when you can.
In the context of Burger’s legacy (a real mixed bag ever since “The Illusionist”), “Inheritance” is hardly a crown jewel. It’s predictable, a tone and a knock on Dynevor as a viable action star – despite her next three projects all being described as thrillers. Still, the origin story is well worth hunting down and can make this largely underwhelming film almost worth watching. Who knows when a major filmmaker will try this idea again, but the basic structure is worth passing by.
Grade: C
From IFC Films, “Inheritance” hits theaters on January 24.
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