‘Inheritance’ Review: A Thriller Without Thrills

It has been interesting to watch directors fiddle with the kind of filmmaking technology we’re all carrying around in our pockets. Long before he made “Anora,” Sean Baker shot his screwball comedy “Tangerine” on an iPhone. Steven Soderbergh has done this too, for his thriller “Unsane” and sports drama “High Flying Bird.” Charlie Kaufman’s poetic short film “Jackals and Fireflies” was shot on a Samsung Galaxy, and Danny Boyle’s upcoming zombie movie “28 Years Later” was made with an iPhone, too. And of course, scores of documentaries use footage shot on phones, for obvious reasons.

Innovation in the movies has been driven by technological advances; shrinking camera sizes made it easier to shoot on location or in motion and the introduction of sound, color and digital cameras fundamentally changed the way filmmakers think. So it makes sense that the incredibly lightweight, powerful and portable cameras that smartphones provide would enter the mix. The challenge, though, is to make a movie that people want to watch, something that stands out from whatever they could just do themselves. The auteurs I listed above mostly sell it, using the unique look and light footprint of the camera to the advantage of their stories. The form follows the movie’s function.

Unfortunately, “Inheritance” is not one of those. Directed by Neil Burger (who made “The Illusionist,” “Limitless,” and the first “Divergent”), who wrote the screenplay with Olen Steinhauer, it is definitely trying for something: a globe-hopping tale of intrigue and betrayal, starring Phoebe Dynevor in a very un-“Bridgerton” role. She is Maya, a sullen and directionless young woman who spent the last year or two caring for her dying mother. Now her mother’s gone, and Maya is both grieving and exhilarated by the newfound freedom.

When her estranged father (Rhys Ifans) shows up at the funeral, Maya wants nothing to do with him. But then he offers her a job that pays well and sounds glamorous, showing rich clients around different cities while they wait for some kind of real estate transaction to clear. She hops on a plane with him to Cairo.

Maya sets off on a multi-continental pursuit of her father, or maybe a wild-goose chase. She’s always trying to figure out what’s going on. We’re already a step or two ahead of her.