The Inheritance (2026)


I work hard to support local artists and the community around them.  The problem is that, as a critic, it is important to be honest in an assessment.  It's a bit hard to do so when it is obvious that a person is amiable and is trying to make something for others to enjoy while calling attention to a community that they love.  Part of criticism is to help someone improve and, hopefully, reach the goals they are hoping to achieve.  I that spirit I dive into The Inheritance. 

James Mills (James Mills) inherits a property near the Arizona town of Globe from his father.  It is significantly off the beaten path and covered in trash.  However, not being in the best financial straits, he decides to see if there is anything worth doing with the property.  His uncle's attorney also wishes him to check it out and let her know if he intends on doing anything with it.  However, as he approaches, he starts getting strange vibes, including sudden visions of ghostly children near a local ruin.

Despite the place giving him goosebumps he decides to explore further.  In the house he finds books with strange symbols as well as a microrecorder and a video camera, the latter with recoverable footage.  Wanting to get more information about the area he speaks with the local bartender (David Lindblad) of a mead shop in neighboring Miami he is advised that he would be better off leaving things be.  However, James's curiosity gets the best of him, and he finds out that some places are best left untouched.

The Inheritance is a found-footage horror film, written by, directed and starring James Mills.  Except for a couple extras it features his family, who also helped him make it.  No matter how it turned out I admire him for deciding he is going to do a movie and following through. .  

The problem is that found footage can be hit or miss, and mostly the latter.  A major issue is that The Inheritance relies on well-used tropes but doesn't use them well.  The creepy kids are more adorable than creepy and few of the reveals at the end are as thrilling as they were meant to be.  Part of that is a lack of timing in the editing to do proper jump scares, where a good portion is also the lighting, or lack there-of.  The end is much like The Blair Witch Project, leaving a lot to the imagination, but these movies rely heavily on the editing to decide what people see and don't.  Also, like in the Paranormal Activity movies, a good hour and such of buildup should be paid off by something crazy at the end, and this never goes off the rails enough.

Throughout the movie James is repeatedly talking about how things are "weird", to the point of where his use of the word could contribute to a drinking game.  He comments on events and asks the audience if it saw or heard something.  In most cases, because of the sound, there wasn't anything heard (other than wind or traffic) and nothing was seen.  This leads him to describe much of what he is experiencing instead of showing it.  One of the most important things to remember when writing is always to show, not tell, and this is even more important in visual media.  This movie would have been so much more effective with little to no dialogue and tall the supposed "weird" things put on the screen, whether it be things half-glimpsed or noises. 

I am sure that Mills thought that found footage was a financially smart way to make a first film but it still requires some grasp of cinematic language.  I think he has this and would have been better served making a traditional slasher or cabin-in-the-woods movie, as I believe that he just doesn't understand the found footage genre.  When we see what was recorded from the camera that was found in the abandoned house Mills shows some style and imagination rather than the long sequences of driving or just nothing happening, punctuated by static which is supposed to appear menacing.  Despite my disappointment (and, hate to say it, boredom) with this film I do hope that he gets a bit more ambitious for his next project. 

The Inheritance (2026)
Time: 77 minutes
Starring: James Mills
Director: James Mills

 

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