In the description, “The Inheritance” sounds like one of those movies that relies on the artifice of its own creation: a spy thriller shot entirely on an iPhone, with many scenes staged in public without permits to add urgency and spontaneity. But this latest film from Neil Burger (“Divergent,” “Limitless,” “The Illusionist”), who co-wrote the script with spy novelist Olen Steinhauer, ultimately transcends mere novelty by having a plot on an even smaller scale than you might expect.
Despite its multinational sprawl and hints of high stakes, the film is ultimately a two-person drama about a daughter (Phoebe Dynevor) discovering who her long-absent father (Rhys Ifans) really is. What she discovers is bitter, but also dramatically satisfying enough to make this release, which hits theaters from IFC Films on Friday, feel like more than just another low-budget action movie with familiar faces.
Director: Neil BurgerWriters: Neil Burger, Olen SteinhauerStars: Phoebe Dynevor, Rhys Ifans, Ciara Baxendale
Maya (Dynevor) is introduced as a moody young woman in Manhattan, who steals a bottle of liquor from a store before hooking up with a guy at a club for some pleasureless sex. It's a while before we realize the cause of her gloom: she's spent most of the last year caring for her dying mother who has just passed away, leaving her grieving and directionless. At the funeral, her older sister Jess (Kersti Bryan) whispers "I can't believe he came," referring to their divorced father Sam (Ifans). He's been missing from their lives for years, but now seems remorseful and looking to make amends. To that end, he offers Maya immediate lucrative employment to help him attract "foreign buyers" to buy high-end real estate. She's skeptical, but also desperate for some distraction, so she finds herself on the next plane to Cairo with her father.
A few questions he reluctantly answers along the way suggest that part of his “business” may involve laundering money for shady characters. A few more (plus a peek at the fake ID on his passport) have him admitting that he “used” to do occasional spy work. But things don’t really escalate until they’re dining at the drop-off point. Dad leaves the table for a moment, doesn’t return, then calls his daughter, telling her to leave the restaurant immediately. As he does, a phalanx of law enforcement officers arrive, having been tipped off that Sam is inside. He seems to be much sought after by big-league players like Interpol (whose recurring, if fleeting, face here is “24″ actor Necar Zadegan), as well as shadier types.
While briefly in the hands of her trusted confidant Khalil (Majd Eid), Maya gets another call: Dad is now being held captive, threatened with death by unknown kidnappers unless she can retrieve “something they paid for.” We eventually learn that it’s something to do with stolen state secrets. After dodging Khalil, she hops on a plane to New Delhi, then a train to Bombay, then another plane to Seoul, pursued by agents of all stripes. Meanwhile, the question of whose side her father is on or whether he’s told her the truth about anything becomes increasingly unsettling.
The guerrilla production, which is filmed without permits, results in Maya running around well-chosen foreign locations (sometimes pursued on foot, in a taxi, or on a motorbike) without the gunplay or physical stunts that usually highlight such action sequences. “The Inheritance” is lively in its jittery, handheld-camera aesthetic, but never overly exciting or suspenseful. That’s fine, since our protagonist is no Jason Bourne. She’s a young woman who’s very harried in a foreign land, where she doesn’t speak any language or other relevant skills, and who fumbles her way through crises she hears about mostly by cellphone.
When the cynicism with which she’s being used becomes clear, the real target becomes clear — and it’s not some “grand international conspiracy.” Instead, it emerges as the kind of story where stubborn hopes that a doomed father will do the right thing for once end up confirming one’s worst fears. All the preceding intrigue is actually a setup for climactic dialogues between father and daughter that are quiet, nasty, but packed with stinging emotional payoff. In a sense, that echoes the effect of Dynevor’s last film, the toxic office romance “Fair Play.” The narrative context may be very different, but the build toward interpersonal fireworks that burn bridges is similar.
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