Not to be confused with this year's American horror of the same title, Inheritance is a Polish mystery comedy that just dropped on Netflix. The film tells the story of a dying billionaire and eccentric inventor, Wladyslaw, who invites his estranged relatives home to inherit his fortune. Unexpectedly, he prepares one last game to test their reconciliation and teamwork.
While there's good intention behind this movie and everything is presented quite well in terms of visuals, tone and humour, the slow pacing and bland characters keep it from being a stand out.
The film starts out with one family led by Dawid Klos (Maciej Stuhr), who is on his way back to the family mansion by invitation from his uncle. While at a petrol station, he happens to run into other relatives.
Dawid soon discovers everyone else has been invited by Wladyslaw, whose inheritance is about to be awarded. Once they all gather at the mansion, things don't quite turn out the way they hoped. Wladyslaw has set up an elaborate scheme that will test everyone to see who receives a share of his inheritance. So, they reluctantly work together to complete the game, putting their teamwork to the test and bringing everyone closer as a result.
There are a few problems with Inheritance. Although there's a variety of characters in the story and they all have at least one distinctive trait, they feel flat in their individual problems. Dawid's family is a typically dysfunctional one where the husband and wife aren't passionate any more. Their kids are resentful, and they have to find a way to be happy with each other again. However, their characters are typical and don't have any development beyond the roles set out for them in the film. This goes for everyone else in the movie too.
There are a couple of characters that add to the story in a meaningful way, such as the inventor Wladyslaw and his butler, but they don't have much screen time. However, they contribute the most to the story with everything that happens with the inheritance. It's interesting to see how their roles expand over time.
From left, Maciej Stuhr, Piotr Polak and Mateusz Król.
Like the majority of the characters, the story isn't anything to write home about either. It's a fairly typical mystery plot where a group of characters have to find a fortune by undergoing a series of challenges, and it's more or less something that you've already seen before. The characters have to crack passwords, perform a series of tasks designed by Wladyslaw and navigate their way through secret rooms. It's all extremely basic in approach, but at least there's enough variety in these activities to add a certain air of mystery.
Another main problem with this movie is its slow pacing. For example, the characters will do something related to the inheritance, but then they'll sit down and talk for long periods without doing much else. It's weird because the movie isn't actually that long; it's only about an hour-and-a-half, but it feels longer because of how everything drags on. There's no sense of urgency whatsoever, so I ended up not caring what happens.
The film practically spells out its theme regarding how relationships are more important than money or materialism. It's not a bad message, but it is approached with the same level of passion as everything else in the movie, which is to say quite mediocre. I wish the filmmakers had put as much effort into the script as they did with the style, because everything else about the movie looks and feels impressive. Whether showing the beautiful architecture of the mansion itself, a snowy backdrop, or the creative set designs related to the puzzles, the cinematography does a great job of adding to the appeal of the story.
While showing promising signs, Inheritance is a bland mystery that does the bare minimum to convey intrigue. I could guess where this movie was going from the start. Everything felt like it was inherited from other films without any attempt to put an original spin on it.
- Inheritance
- Starring Jan Peszek, Maciej Stuhr, Joanna Trzepiecinska
- Directed by Sylwester Jakimow
- Now streaming on Netflix
