Review by John Delia
The mystery thriller Inheritance takes the stage on VOD and it’s a killer! Nicely acted and directed, the film moves along at a good pace getting the audience involved in the plot early on with a death in the family before getting to a critical point in the storyline. From there on out it’s a barn-burner to a twisted finale that kicks butt.
Lauren Monroe (Lily Collins) is a District Attorney who’s in the middle of a hot case when her father Archer Monroe (Patrick Warburton) dies of a heart attack. The super wealthy family is stunned, especially his wife Catherine Monroe (Connie Nielsen) and son William Monroe (Chance Crawford). The timing couldn’t be worse with Lauren’s case in full swing and William’s bid for reelection to Congress just around the corner.
At the reading of Archer’s will by the family attorney Harold Thewlis (Michael Beach), we see a very large sum of money going to William, his wife getting control of the estate home and the transfer of his votes in their Bank ownership. However, Lauren gets a minor sum and privately later is handed a package. Inside the package is a set of keys and a letter, directing her to his secret bunker in a nearby woods.
When she goes to the bunker she has an unthinkable surprise waiting for her. Director Vaughn Stein sets up his wicked mystery after introducing the main characters and their own personal circumstances that control their lives. He then intertwines their storylines showing the effect it has due to the death of Archer on the family. The setup is incredibly good, so good that it becomes mindboggling and even unbelievable, and that’s a good thing for this twisted story.
The actors are at the top of their game making their characters strong and their stories gripping. Leading the cast is Lily Collins as the faithful daughter who has to juggle her private home life, an important prosecution, and the surprise in the bunker. You can feel her burn as she puts Lauren to task in the midst of her own job and her brother’s needs to him win the congressional seat. But, her solidest depiction comes when she has to face off against Morgan Warner (Simon Pegg) as it explodes on the screen in the finale.
Inheritance has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language, drug use, extreme violence and a scene involving a sexual attack. Now for the squeamish some of the violence is bloody and nasty. WARNING: the attached trailer does give away some spoilers and is best not watched unless you just can’t resist.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good film with surprise and twists. (4 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, Connie Nielsen, Chance Crawford, Patrick Warburton, Marque Richardson, Michael Beach, Rebecca Adams
Directed by: Vaughn Stein
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, contains violence, language, drug use, and a sexual attack.
Running Time: 1 hr. 51 min.
Opening Date: May 22, 2020
Distributed by: Vertical Entertainment
Released in: VOD, Digital