10 Great Films With Soul-Destroying Endings

Some people are quick to dismiss horror, claiming that it doesn’t work as a vector for more serious messages- and maybe that’s why Relic has remained such an underrated film.

Only released earlier this year, this film follows the story of an elderly woman (Edna) suffering with dementia, and her daughter and granddaughter’s struggles as they try to care for her.

As her health declines, Edna begins to literally waste away in front of her family as her house simultaneously crumbles around them. Post-it notes stuck around the house remind her of simple things, whilst mould grows from all the crevices.

Things are brought to a climactic end as a now zombie-like Edna picks at her rotting flesh and splintered bones, her family staring on in terrified awe.

She points to one post-it note, only saying “I am loved”, and allows for her corpse-like body to be carried to bed by her daughter and granddaughter, where the rest of her skin and flesh peels away. She breathes her last breath surrounded by her family.

It’s such a chilling and heart wrenching film because you’re so unprepared for it. You sign up for a spooky, witchy horror and instead watch the decay of age slowly steal a family’s loved one.

A subtle scene at the end even hints that Edna’s daughter will eventually face the same fate, with a bruise on the back of her neck that will one day turn to the same rotting flesh.