I have to admit that the premise for "Inheritance" is quite unlike any movie I have seen (or heard about) to date, and that I was kept interested in it to see how things would be wrapped up in the end. However, when the end credits started rolling, I didn't find myself satisfied. As others here have stated before me, this movie has quite a lot of holes in its plot. How did nobody know about the bomb shelter before? Why didn't the heroine's father leave her proper instructions about her "inheritance"? Then there are questions that come up at the end that the movie does not answer, such as the unmentioned fate of the heroine's brother, who simply disappears from the story. The performers do a pretty good job despite the weaknesses in the material, and the entire production looks okay despite a limited budget. I've seen worse on Netflix, I admit, but I think this is one acquisition you should only look at when you've run out of really good movies to watch there.
366 Reviews
Should've been better
TheTruthofItIs26 June 2020
"Inheritance" is a direct to video mystery with a mostly unknown cast except for an almost unrecognizable Simon Pegg. 31yo Lily Collins looks much younger, like she's from one of those kids shows on Disney or Nickelodeon. She's really out of place as big city DA "Lauren Monroe", so that's a casting fail, which is a problem since she's the lead. That and other plausibility problems take you out of important moments and make this a so-so storytelling when it could've and should've been worth an 8 or 9 rating. The whole production is analogous to doodoo covered with white icing - it looks good enough to eat but heaven help you if you do! For instance, the whole initial premise that her father barely if at all really briefed her on the terrible responsibility of her inheritance just because someone might be listening in is ludicrous. Fine, you can forgive that one maybe since it launches the story but it's followed by too many subsequent implausibilities you'd have to look past to really enjoy the story itself. It's a shame, because the story concept is decent but poorly executed.
Weird
rws_2016 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I did enjoy this film to a degree, I like a mystery-thriller and the mystery in this one unravels well, it delivers a satisfyingly slow-burning and eerie tension throughout, but there are a couple of issues, and they're pretty big ones:
1) There's a massive plot hole in that the protagonist's father just leaves her with a secret of an enslaved man trapped down a hole in her garden, with ZERO information surrounding the reason as to why he's even there.
2) I thought the casting was rather odd. Both Lily Collins and Simon Pegg do well in their roles, you see some very nice acting from both of them, but I couldn't help but feel Lily was too 'baby-faced' to be believable as the DA of Manhattan, and Simon, well, it was just weird to see him in such a role to be honest. I found these two casting choices really distracting.
But in spite of those two points, I still enjoyed it. I just sat back, ignored the stupidity, and watched the mystery unravel. It's worth a watch if you're struggling to find something, but there's not really any rewatch value there for me.
1) There's a massive plot hole in that the protagonist's father just leaves her with a secret of an enslaved man trapped down a hole in her garden, with ZERO information surrounding the reason as to why he's even there.
2) I thought the casting was rather odd. Both Lily Collins and Simon Pegg do well in their roles, you see some very nice acting from both of them, but I couldn't help but feel Lily was too 'baby-faced' to be believable as the DA of Manhattan, and Simon, well, it was just weird to see him in such a role to be honest. I found these two casting choices really distracting.
But in spite of those two points, I still enjoyed it. I just sat back, ignored the stupidity, and watched the mystery unravel. It's worth a watch if you're struggling to find something, but there's not really any rewatch value there for me.
Father suddenly dies and leaves a very big surprise for daughter.
TxMike22 July 2020
This movie has gotten consistently mediocre to poor ratings from various professional viewers. The premise is very interesting but highly unlikely, and many of the choices of the various characters seem unusual and unlikely. Still, my wife and I were entertained, as a Tuesday evening viewing at home on the Kanopy site it entertained us more than many recent movies.
Very cute but maybe too young Lily Collins is powerful NYC prosecutor Lauren Monroe. When her wealthy and influential dad dies suddenly and the will is executed she receives an inheritance she wishes she could give back. Dad's video on the USB drive and a set of keys gets the story into its main thrust. Lauren has to clean up the mess but has no idea how to proceed.
Perhaps the best part of this movie is Simon Pegg, mostly known for his silly, comedic roles, is dead serious here as menacing Morgan Warner. The rest of the cast are adequate. The story has a resolution but in total it is just a B movie. Set in NYC much of it was filmed in Alabama.
I am glad we watched it, I would not want a second viewing.
Very cute but maybe too young Lily Collins is powerful NYC prosecutor Lauren Monroe. When her wealthy and influential dad dies suddenly and the will is executed she receives an inheritance she wishes she could give back. Dad's video on the USB drive and a set of keys gets the story into its main thrust. Lauren has to clean up the mess but has no idea how to proceed.
Perhaps the best part of this movie is Simon Pegg, mostly known for his silly, comedic roles, is dead serious here as menacing Morgan Warner. The rest of the cast are adequate. The story has a resolution but in total it is just a B movie. Set in NYC much of it was filmed in Alabama.
I am glad we watched it, I would not want a second viewing.
Not sure why all the negative reviews
alexkzapf10 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
It is predictable. But. I understand Lauren's motivations for her actions. She spends her life and energy to prove her dad wrong. All just to get some inkling of approval. So I'm not sure why people say there are all these plot holes. Simons character was being punished a fate worse than death. When Lauren finds out about the evil her dad has committed. She does what she feels is needed to right a wrong. In this day and age. It seems like people are always looking to tear movies apart. At least this one had an ending. Lauren was trying to stay true to her on self-imposes convictions. Wanting to believe she had achieved what she had on her own. It's a story someone wrote. Not me or people watching the movie. Honestly. Plot holes no. A hard to believe story. Yes. But. That is why I watch movies. To be entertained and to escape life for a couple of hours. Maybe people are just too jaded in this day and age. Who knows. I think it's worth a look. You could do way worse.
The 7 star is for the awesomeness that is Mr.Pegg
nellz_nivlecn24 June 2020
I quite enjoy this movie. I watched it without knowing what it was about. When I saw the Morgan character, at first I was skeptical that they chose Simon Pegg for it. But he proves me wrong, boy was he a delight to watch in this role. This movie is the kind that you'd find yourself enjoy it more IF you can ignore the plot holes. Picture tom & jerry's holey cheese, those are the exact representation of the plot holes. So thats what I did, I ignore them and enjoy the performance. Well but then again there's only so much that mr.Pegg can do.
This movie HAD a potential to become better, but the choppy edit and poor conclusion at the end render this movie into a meh.
And as for lily collins, she gave great performance here, its solid. I just... cant helped but feel that someone else would've suited more to be the lead role. She didn't have the charisma nor the tenacity that was needed to play the no nonsense District Attorney.
I like the first 50minutes of this movie, the revelation at the end just felt forced and rushed, all that build up doesn't really paid well. I just wished they take it to another direction instead of the cliche ending.
5 star for the story, as it could've been great 7 star for Simon Pegg, I hope this is a sign that he's gonna play more serious roles in the future because he steals the show!
And as for lily collins, she gave great performance here, its solid. I just... cant helped but feel that someone else would've suited more to be the lead role. She didn't have the charisma nor the tenacity that was needed to play the no nonsense District Attorney.
I like the first 50minutes of this movie, the revelation at the end just felt forced and rushed, all that build up doesn't really paid well. I just wished they take it to another direction instead of the cliche ending.
5 star for the story, as it could've been great 7 star for Simon Pegg, I hope this is a sign that he's gonna play more serious roles in the future because he steals the show!
Plot holes you can drive a truck through.
Dando8320 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Lost count of how many actions the main characters could have taken to avoid the mayhem.
How about an explanation from dad for why a man is chained up? A note on the shelves in the dungeon room even? How about showing a picture of Morgan to mom instead of asking her is she recognises a name? How about putting more police onto the job of finding any records? How about using your DA skills to know if someone is lying? Took me out of the movie. Sorry, can't give more than four stars.
How about an explanation from dad for why a man is chained up? A note on the shelves in the dungeon room even? How about showing a picture of Morgan to mom instead of asking her is she recognises a name? How about putting more police onto the job of finding any records? How about using your DA skills to know if someone is lying? Took me out of the movie. Sorry, can't give more than four stars.
Decent movie
gweesha14 November 2022
I used to come here and read the reviews before I watch a movie, but I don't anymore. Especially when the average rating of EVERY movie on this site is 5.1. The people who leave these reviews are a joke. They're so overly critical and take everything so serious and pick a part every little bit of a film. Some people really need to lighten up. I'm sorry, but there's no way this movie deserved 1's, 2's, 3's or even 4's. It was very good and certainly kept my interest the entire time. It even threw in a great twist towards the end. So if you are reading these reviews, take them with a grain of salt. Watch it and make up your own mind. It's definitely a decent mystery in my opinion!
So badly written, to the point of stupidity
artina_morton25 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
We love Simon Pegg, but this was a bad role choice, and, sorry Lily, but you were not cast well either. Lily is supposedly the DA for Manhattan, yet there is no evidence of her ability for deductive reasoning or keeping her cool in the face of a challenge. No ability to be objective and question things accordingly. She is weak, overly emotional and can't make an intelligent decision to save her life. So...DA for Manhattan? Yeah, right. Oh, and why keep that guy alive? And why hand over such a deep dark secret with no information? Why make it a mystery if she's supposed to carry on the secrecy? If the truth is to "stay buried" then why keep the evidence alive and then not give her the information she would need to manage through it? And why when you are left with such a dark secret would you not WAIT FOR THE DAMNED EVIDENCE YOU ASKED YOUR COP FRIEND FOR BEFORE LETTING THE GUY GO?! Whatever. It's a terrible script that makes no sense. Don't bother. Sorry Simon. Sorry Lily.
Heading for....An Anticlimax...
omendata23 May 2020
I quite enjoyed the premise and although absurd that is what movies are all about - its not real life to the reviewer who beggars belief and so is the premise of many other movies and that does not make it a bad movie just a creative idea much like many Stephen King movies but this one could not maintain the level of tension/pacing and just petered out from the middle onwards to the rather disappointing ending.
That being said it wound its way quite well until the denouement which was a bit of a letdown; the end was a bit of a damp squib, I was expecting something more jaw dropping in the vein of the writers of Saw or Hannibal but no, it runs out of steam like most films these days seem to.
Passable entertainment but fails to reach much above the 6th rung on the ten step ladder!
That being said it wound its way quite well until the denouement which was a bit of a letdown; the end was a bit of a damp squib, I was expecting something more jaw dropping in the vein of the writers of Saw or Hannibal but no, it runs out of steam like most films these days seem to.
Passable entertainment but fails to reach much above the 6th rung on the ten step ladder!
Better than I expected
Top_Dawg_Critic22 May 2020
Not a flawless film, but for a B-grade film that Matthew Kennedy wrote the story and screenplay - his first ever, it was quite impressive for an amateur writer. There were some minor plot and technical issues, but the 111 min runtime with its on point pacing, held my interest and kept me in suspense. The directing and score were decent, and cinematography was great. All cast performed excellent, especially Pegg, but I felt Lily Collins wasn't the right casting choice; her performance was excellent, and although she's 31 years old, right from the start of the film, her young teenage look wasn't convincing for a fierce D.A. Nevertheless, an enjoyable drama/thriller I'd recommend, especially considering the slim-pickings of films available during the Corona virus. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.
Absolutely deserves a better rating!
moformy28 May 2020
What ? Really ?
carolynocean5 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
This was probably one of the most crazy plots that I have seen in a while .
I watched it with my jaw dropped for the most part .
Lilly Collins was all wrong for this role, she looks 17 years old and is supposed to be a District attorney and super business woman .
Absolutely nothing here was convincing , from her unlikely husband and daughter , to her even more unlikely mother , these people were just thrown together , and Simon Pegg ? Crazy role !!
And, are we supposed to believe that a man can surive for 30 years underground, with no human contact , bar 1 person , with no need to ever see a doctor or a dentist ,or any kind of specialist in all that time Not to mention the reason he was there in the first place , just ridiculous and mad.
I watched it through, but, really its just plain silly.
I watched it with my jaw dropped for the most part .
Lilly Collins was all wrong for this role, she looks 17 years old and is supposed to be a District attorney and super business woman .
Absolutely nothing here was convincing , from her unlikely husband and daughter , to her even more unlikely mother , these people were just thrown together , and Simon Pegg ? Crazy role !!
And, are we supposed to believe that a man can surive for 30 years underground, with no human contact , bar 1 person , with no need to ever see a doctor or a dentist ,or any kind of specialist in all that time Not to mention the reason he was there in the first place , just ridiculous and mad.
I watched it through, but, really its just plain silly.
Decent Movie
kumarziggler22 May 2020
Casting Issue!
heratyplant2 November 2020
The youngest ever District Attorney in the US is around 35, Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore, the actress cast as a DA here is 30, but she looks about 19, maybe even younger. If you're under 30 or teenager this maybe fine, but as someone old enough to be her Father, I'm afraid this stretches my ability to suspend my disbelief & with very poor reviews, I'm out within minutes.
Decent storyline.
kcitowicz20 July 2022
I don't mind that story is bit of stretch at times but one thing I hate is attention to detail. Lauren is digging and a way she is holding a spade ( shovel for some of you) just made me laugh. Obviously there was no one around at this point of filming who ever attempted digging.
FINE ACTING IS OFFSET BY AN ABSURD SITUATION
danew1322 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Nice performances by the lovely Lily Collins and the versatile Simon Pegg were overshadowed by the initial absurdity of the plot at the beginning...a man kept prisoner in an underground bunker for 30 years...aside from Pegg's good health from this unbelievable ordeal, the fact that Collins, a district attorney, played along with her discovery, rather than calling the cops, beggers belief.
You can't build a credible mystery from an absurd basis.
You can't build a credible mystery from an absurd basis.
Fun to watch...
nakrugt21 October 2020
Deserves a much higher rating.
deloudelouvain26 May 2020
The only disappointing thing about Inheritance is the ratings it gets on IMDb. To me it's seriously underrated, but then again I'm used to it. It's not the first time that I completely disagree with the ratings, in fact there are a lot of movies with this score that I find very entertaining whilst other very highly rated movies are rather boring to watch. Inheritance has an interesting story, the suspense is building up during the entire movie, with good acting from Simon Pegg and Lily Collins, as well as the rest of the cast. It's one of those mystery movies you keep guessing what happened, one that you know there is something odd about it but you stay eager to find out. So no I really don't get what people don't like about this movie. Sometimes you can see a movie is going to suck after just watching a couple minutes, the amateurism just oozes from the beginning, but with Inheritance I immediatly had the opposite reaction after a couple minutes, you can clearly see the cinematography was going to be good, and a good story and acting made it just slightly more entertaining than a just normal 'good' movie. You can't really go wrong with this movie if you like mystery thrillers.
Worth watching
mcrenshaw631127 May 2020
Better than what I have seen lately...
jamactechnical28 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I actually enjoyed this movie for the most part even though the idea that someone had spent 30 years in the hole is pretty far fetched but it was the two main actors, Lilly and Simon that carried this film to a watchable event. Sure, it's not one of the best thrillers I have seen but it's better than most of the new thriller movies I have seen lately on Demand. Only five stars for the film but 8 stars for the two actors.:-)
Loss of sense
kosmasp29 September 2020
Now if stop a minute and think about ... actually anything, you may have a problem. I don't know how long you are able to shake your head in disbelief, but I do know you will get tired before you have reason to actually stop. There are so many things that are wrong, on the story side and even the inciting incident (even if explained and very conveniently placed - by accident (no pun intended), has things attached to it that don't make sense.
You can start asking why ... even if you sort can satisfyingly answer the why the female/sister character of the movie and not the brother ... and of course she is the main character, but that alone is just an excuse for the screenwriter. Whom I don't want to bash to much, not knowing what he wrote or who wrote what and what got changed. But it is a mess overall. The actors do save it though and if you can just relax sit back and let the tension and the thrill of the movie take over ... well you can be thoroughly entertained
You can start asking why ... even if you sort can satisfyingly answer the why the female/sister character of the movie and not the brother ... and of course she is the main character, but that alone is just an excuse for the screenwriter. Whom I don't want to bash to much, not knowing what he wrote or who wrote what and what got changed. But it is a mess overall. The actors do save it though and if you can just relax sit back and let the tension and the thrill of the movie take over ... well you can be thoroughly entertained
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