Inheritance Movie Review – Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans Bring the Authenticity in a Refreshing Espionage Thriller

Director Neil Burger is back. This time, he’s tackling the espionage thriller genre in Inheritance, which stars Phoebe Dynevor (Bridgerton, Fair Play) and Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, House of the Dragon). Written by Burger and Olen Steinhauer, Inheritance establishes itself as a globe-trotting film that takes the audience to New York, Cairo, New Delhi, and Seoul in a pulsating (and dramatic) thrill ride that keeps everyone on their toes.

The film begins on a glum note as Maya (Dynevor) loses her mother. At the same time, Maya’s father, Sam (Ifans), reappears in her life and wants to make up for not being there in the past. He proposes that she join him in his international real estate ventures. Reluctantly, Maya accepts and then learns that her father was involved in espionage work in the past. Their reunion is thrown a curveball when Sam is taken and the kidnappers insist that Maya help them secure an important item that Sam has in his possession. Sure, it sounds like a typical spy thriller, but just roll with it, because there are twists and turns to this story that change everything.

Neil Burger’s raw thriller makes full use of its global locations and visual language

If there’s a sense of raw authenticity to Inheritance, it’s because there is. Neil Burger and his team assembled a small crew to follow the actors around the globe to the different locations and decided not to tell anyone else about it. There’s a found-footage quality as the shaky cam trails Maya down the streets and captures the reaction of the people around her in real time. This also creates unpredictability since the actors stay in character but the city behaves the way it wants to.

The guerrilla approach of DOP Jackson Hunt’s cinematography helps Burger to translate Maya’s internal conflict visually on screen. As a viewer, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, lost, or confused as all these new cities offer equal parts wonder and danger for the character. It’s a whole new world of exploration; however, Maya is never certain if the people she meets along the way are friends or foes. All she has are her gut feelings and street smarts here.

RELATED: Alarum Movie Review – Sylvester Stallone and Scott Eastwood’s So-So Action Movie Needed a Better Director

Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans impress

Inheritance sells itself as a thriller, but it’s also more than that. Scratch through the veneer and it’s a deft drama, exploring the relationship between Maya and Sam. Maya has just lost her mother and finds herself in a vulnerable state, so she’s more receptive to reconnecting with Sam and attempting to build a father-daughter dynamic with him. She knows nothing about her father, so that’s what makes the events of the movie even more climatic, because she’s learning about who he really is at the same time as the rest of the audience.

This relationship is solidified by Phoebe Dynevor and Rhys Ifans’ nuanced and persuasive performances. Dynevor plays Maya on two levels: As a daughter trying to help her father and as a young woman trying to solve the puzzle of what’s going on. Constantly, she questions her surroundings and what’s required of her, as she knows that not everyone’s intentions are what they say. Similarly, Ifans plays two roles: The loving father who wants to rebuild a relationship with his daughter and a shady highroller in the world of espionage whose honesty and integrity should be scrutinized at every turn. Let’s say there are a few unexpected surprises in store for both Maya and Sam in Inheritance.

RELATED: Wolf Man Movie Review – Leigh Whannell’s Monster Movie Is Fang-tastic

Is Inheritance worth watching?

Neil Burger loves to take gamble with his films. Sometimes, they pay off (see: Limitless), and other times they don’t (see: Voyagers). One thing that no one can ever accuse him of being is boring or risk-averse. Inheritance continues this trend as he refuses to pump out a generic espionage thriller. Instead, this is an intricate and guerrilla-powered film that has the audience uncovering the seeds of truth along with the main character, Maya, as she journeys across the globe. Also, it’s easy to see why Phoebe Dynevor was in the running to play Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman from this performance alone. It’s Gunn’s loss, though, because Dynevor is blockbuster, through and through.