The Inherited (2015)

Directed by Devon Gummersall [Other horror films: N/A]

More than anything else, I found The Inherited a rather frustrating film. The plot wasn’t without intrigue, but it went down a somewhat predictable path, felt rushed come the finale, and just wasn’t something I found too enjoyable.

It had mystery at times. Was the lead character being poisoned by her husband, or were there some real supernatural events going on around the house, and did her husband kill his first wife, or was her madness natural, that kind of stuff. I can’t say I’m at all happy with the answers to some of these questions, and that’s partially because the ending just felt too quick.

A couple of things bothered me also. At many points, the lead (Jenn Liu’s character) has suspicions – suspicions that she’s being poisoned by someone (could be the housekeeper, could be her husband), suspicions that she’s being gaslit (perhaps by her husband, perhaps by her housekeeper), suspicions she’s in danger. These were all legitimate feelings, too.

Logically, you’d think she wouldn’t stay in the situation. You know, maybe spend a couple of days away from the house, away from her husband, and, you know, reassess the situation. It makes sense to me – if I ever felt to be in a potentially threatening position, I’d like to think I would leave the situation, which she has every opportunity to do.

She didn’t. As far as the audience can tell, she didn’t even consider it. Instead, she confided in the housekeeper (who, on a side note, no one but the lead character ever has much contact with, and most of us know what that probably means) – you know, the housekeeper who makes her tea every day, and lied about being in the kitchen when she wasn’t. This isn’t a lie the audience knows about and Liu’s character doesn’t – she literally thinks to herself that the housekeeper is lying. And yet, she confides in her.

I cannot express in numerical value how many times I made variations of verbal statements along the lines of “Why not leave the fucking house?” I said this at least eight times throughout the film, because it felt absurd and past the point of parody. On a side-note, this is a film I saw on Lifetime, so that may be a common occurrence when it comes to the thriller and horror films they play.

It’s not that I think Jenn Liu did badly. Early on, I was pretty invested in her story, though by the finale, I felt ashamed, as the film ends horribly. I legit #HatedIt, as the kids say. I didn’t care for Tammy Blanchard, Annabella Sciorra, or Nathan Darrow, but Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul) popped up a few times, and he was sort of cool to see.

Sure, I won’t say there wasn’t occasionally a decent atmosphere in the film. There’s ominous undertones to plenty of the conversations the lead character is involved in (I mean, she never really did anything about it, but whateves, I guess she liked being in danger because of course why wouldn’t a character want to stay in a situation that’s potentially dangerous I mean makes sense amiright????????), but that’s part of the problem, because there’s not much of a sensible approach taken by the lead character in the film.

And to take a step back (and a deep breath), The Inherited (also apparently sometimes called Stranger in the House, I guess, because that name is so much less generic) isn’t necessarily terrible, but it was terribly frustrating, and despite some okay story elements (aside from the abysmal finale) and okay performances, this is a film I never want to see again.

5/10