Thrilling ‘Inheritance’ delivers a world of intrigue
There are good fathers and bad fathers. Then there is Sam Welch, the duplicitous dad at the core of “Inheritance,” a slight but slick thriller in which the international man of mystery seeks to reconnect with the daughter he long ago abandoned. Will she take him back in the wake of her mother’s wake? Sorta.
Having spent the past nine months caring for her dying Mom in their New York City apartment, twenty-something Maya is desperate for a change of scenery. Sam (a perfectly shifty Rhys Ifans) offers that by inviting her to accompany him to Cairo as part of a lucrative real estate venture. In return, he will pay her $1,000 daily to convey an impression of vitality and glamour to prospective investors.
Too good to be true, right? You bet it is. But Maya, played with a smooth blend of ennui and cynicism by “Bridgerton’s” Phoebe Dynevor, isn’t in it for the money. It’s Daddy’s love and approval she craves. It’s as if her self-worth depends on it. But will her suspicious nature – born from years of heartbreak at Pop’s hands – abate long enough for it to happen?
You’ll want to wait to find out because “Inheritance” is one of those nail-biting flicks where the less you know the more you’ll enjoy it. All I’ll say is that director Neil Burger continues in the vein of his past thrillers, “Limitless” and “Voyagers,” by presenting us with an everyperson suddenly finding themselves in a heap of unforeseen danger with nothing to rely on but their keen wits and intellect.
Dynevor executes the role well, endowing Maya with an ideal mix of strength and vulnerability to lend Burger’s film, shot entirely on an iPhone, an unexpected measure of authenticity. It helps that he often shoots tight close-ups that capitalize on Dynevor’s uncanny ability to say so much with her eyes and expressions. We can always see her thinking two or three steps ahead of everyone else. Need a fake ID? No problem. Need to give Interpol the slip on the chaotic streets of Delhi? All good! But while Maya is never anything less than cool and composed, we’re freakin’ terrified for her.
As for Ifans, it’s refreshing to see him untethered from the stereotypical roles of goofy best friend or bumbling villain. There’s so much more to him as an actor. He displays the same air of menace here as he did so convincingly in his debut “Twin Town.” There’s a magnetism about him that is fascinating to both us and Maya. But there’s also an unctuousness that warns you to keep him at arm’s length. If you dare venture closer, beware.
Ifans and Dynevor don’t have a lot of scenes together, but when they do, the interplay is electric. So is the movie, co-written by Burger and Olen Steinhauer in a kinetic style that elevates it above a conventional thriller. It’s closer to a globetrotting adventure in which a lost soul is desperate to re-establish her identity. Is she the Daddy’s girl she always assumed herself to be? Or, is she the fiercely independent young woman that materializes when the walls start closing in?
In many ways, Maya is enjoying the challenge of staying alive and eluding her pursuers who want what she’s got stashed in her bag. She’s a young woman so bored and sheltered, that the thrill of the escape is exactly what she needs to reignite her spark. Dynevor communicates this reawakening well, especially when it unearths years of suppressed pain and resentment. But all our hardships amount to nothing once we’re gone. As Sam theorizes, our legacy is little more than that of the slaves who constructed the pyramids. “In the end, they’re just specks of sand,” he says. “That’s depressing,” she replies surveying one of the ancient tombs. “Or, freeing,” Sam says with a knowing smile.
It’s all about the significance of insignificance, a notion that Maya learns to embrace and run with – all the way to the bank. It isn’t called “Inheritance” for nothing. But it’s also about DNA. Maya lives in fear of being like her dad. “I wanted to be like Mom,” she tells Sam. “But I’m not.” No, she takes after Sam, be it her prowess for shoplifting or sticking it to the world’s warmongers, a cunning thief sure to steal your adoration right out from under your nose.
Movie review
Inheritance
Rated: R
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Rhys Ifans, Kersti Bryan and Majd Eld
Director: Neil Burger
Writers: Olen Steinhauer and Neil Burger
Runtime: 100 minutes
Where: In theaters Jan. 24
Grade: B
