disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

THE INHERITANCE -- An Ambitious Experiment in Self-Expression That Lacks Cohesion

3/9/2021

0 Comments

 
Review by Sean Boelman
Picture
Ephraim Asili’s The Inheritance is the type of film that seems to have been made more as a work of art than anything else. And while Asili’s self-expression is certainly intriguing, the movie eventually falls apart into a series of political and artistic vignettes that don’t make for much of a cohesive experience.

The film follows a group of young Black people who form a collective when one of them inherits a house from their grandmother. It’s an interesting concept that offers the potential for a great exploration of Black art and identity, but Aisili’s mistake is in not crafting a compelling enough narrative around these fascinating ideas.

For the first thirty minutes or so, the movie will hook the audience's attention with a somewhat abstract presentation of these Black artists presenting things they have created or learned based on their reflection on themselves and the society in which they live. However, it doesn’t keep up this momentum for the entirety of the runtime.

The middle section of the film takes a significant detour and begins to explore some of the history of the Philadelphia-based group MOVE. And while the point of including this in the story is obvious, it is clumsily done in  a way that makes that portion of the movie feel like a pamphlet for the organization being read out loud.
Picture
It is only in the final third that conflict really comes into play, but by that point, the film will have already lost a majority of viewers’ attention. It feels like much of the movie simply exists as a frame to showcase the many ideas floating around Asili’s head, and while some of them are thought-provoking, others are dead ends.

Thankfully, all of the actors in the film are very good and they manage to keep the movie afloat even when the dialogue is a little too artificial. Like a real-life collective, this cast would only be as strong as its weakest link, and there isn’t one here, as everyone feels like they are contributing to the whole quite well.

It is on a technical level that the film is most successful. Its visual style is just as raw and packed with emotion as the art being created by the characters. Asili puts an intense level of detail into his movie, planting homages and references throughout, showing that there are layers upon layers to dissect in his work.

The Inheritance is an impressive experiment, but not always the most compelling in terms of filmmaking. Still, there are so many amazing ideas happening here to make it worth a watch, even if it doesn’t ever come together.


The Inheritance opens in virtual cinemas on March 12. A list of participating locations can be found here.

Rating: 3/5
               
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Allison Brown
    Borja Izuzquiz
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Daniel Lima
    Dan Skip Allen
    Erin M. Brady
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About