The Inheritance

by Mike McGranaghan

The Inheritance has a cool premise that it carries out an in absolutely pedestrian manner. Billionaire Charles Abernathy (Bob Gunton) summons his adult children to his luxurious old mansion. Locking them inside for the night, he reveals that there will be an attempt to murder him before sunrise. If they protect him, each will receive a $2 billion inheritance. If he dies, they get nothing.

What would you do in this situation? I know what I’d do – I would start demanding answers. A lot of answers. Not the Abernathy children. They ask only vague questions and take his evasive answers at face value. Siskel and Ebert once coined the phrase “idiot plot,” meant to denote a movie whose plot can only advance if all the characters behave like idiots. The Abernathys are idiots.

They’re also stock characters. There’s golden boy Drew (Austin Stowell), who arrives with his wife Hannah (Briana Middleton); snooty, uptight Madeline (Rachel Nichols); and self-absorbed CJ (David Walton). The latter two are obsessed with getting their hands on the money. Befitting modern horror movie cliches, the final Abernathy child is Kami (Peyton List), a social media star focused on livestreaming her every move. It says a lot that when one of these people dies, the others are not terribly shaken up about it.

We quickly realize that whatever is after Charles has its basis in the paranormal. That allows The Inheritance to trot out the same old stuff we’ve seen hundreds of times before: mysterious noises, ominous shadows, creepy paintings that drip blood, etc. We even get the scene where a haunted figure pins someone to the ground and vomits black goo into their face. There’s nothing in the movie that hasn’t been done before and done much better.

The actors, especially Gunton, are all fine. It’s the screenplay by Chris LaMont and Joseph Russo that’s at fault. Early scenes are terribly written, with an abundance of stiff, awkward dialogue intended to explain who everyone is and set up the family background. The characters are all one-note, and there’s very little done to maximize the potential suspense of learning who wants to kill Charles and why. Perhaps worst of all is the story’s capper, which you will 100% see coming the second Charles makes a particular comment during the finale.

Director Alejandro Brugués manages to create a bit of eerie ambiance with the visuals. That, however, cannot make up for the sheer stupidity of The Inheritance’s plot. When Hannah points to a dark, spooky hallway in the mansion and is told, “Nobody ever goes down there,” it’s a forgone conclusion where all the answers to the Abernathy family’s dilemma lie. We just have to wait for the idiots to figure it out for themselves.

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