February 3, 2025 · Watch the official trailer
If writer/director Neil Burger's latest film was on Netflix, it would instantly be the top film on the streaming service within a week.
In a tight 100 minutes, “Bridgerton” actress Phoebe Dynevor races all over the globe in an international spy thriller that minimizes the frills and heightens a relentless intoxicating feeling of confusion and intrigue that would keep casual audiences vastly entertained and off their phones.
Yet somehow, “Inheritance” has already made its way into and almost entirely out of theaters without any real fanfare thanks to a limited distribution run from a studio in IFC Films that doesn't have the marketing budget to draw cinephiles to theaters.
The film in of itself has a unique hook that makes it worth taking a chance on yet the decision to shoot the film entirely on iPhones in a post-pandemic world gives “Inheritance” a slightly raw, found-footage aesthetic that helps propel the tension of each moment.
“Inheritance” follows Dynevor's Maya as she is coerced by her estranged father to help him on an international business trip in Cairo shortly after her mother's funeral only to learn that her father has been kidnapped at the hands of an unknown organization wanting stolen goods that he has in his possession.
Dynevor is not a traditional choice for an action heroine though the nature and structure of “Inheritance” allows her to slink and sneak her way in and out of situations rather than having to engage in fight sequences. This allows Dynevor to focus on Maya's fragile mental state as she overcomes a sort of paralysis to thrust herself into fight-or-flight style action that would save her and her father.
Burger and cinematographer Jackson Hunt home in on Dynevor for non-verbal cues and facial expressions with a very foreboding handheld camera that sinks in tighter on Dynevor's face than the average movie would.
And the uniqueness of the camera angles that Hunt and Burger use in the film keep audiences’ attention by changing their sight lines and eye levels at times peering into Maya’s thoughts while at others seeing things from Maya's direct point-of-view.
Stylistically, this is an exceptionally engaging and unique way to film a spy thriller that does not require large budgets and extensive crews. While numerous chase sequences do have some semblance of staging to them, there is a visceral nature that also gives the impression that scenes are shot on the fly with Dynevor making decisions for Maya that feel natural and not written into a screenplay.
Though he’s not the centerpiece of the film, veteran character actor Rhys Ifans does a solid job as Maya's father, Sam, who keeps audiences and Maya engaged in the mission while also just enough in the dark to prevent her from making a mistake. Dynevor quickly develops a very guarded, familial chemistry with Ifans that gives just enough character drama to propel the overall narrative forward for a film that’s clearly focused on just one actor.
The intimacy that shooting on iPhones gives Burger and his team also creates a hyper-realistic take on the world in real-time as the sort of guerilla filmmaking required here has random passersby acting as extras being largely unaware of what’s happening around them, which allows Maya to feel even more like a chameleon hiding in plain sight.
“Inheritance” has a sharp vibrancy to its cinematic visual style that covers whatever flaws there might be in the limited narrative screenplay and with Dynevor’s attention-grabbing performance, the film is certainly worth seeking out in theaters or renting for an at-home viewing when it’s expected to be released on-demand in the next few weeks.
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