Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Ben Petrie
Starring: Ben Petrie, Grace Glowicki
While most couples have children because they want children, some have
children because they think they want children. When those in the latter
camp are hit with the hard reality of raising a child, suddenly made
brutally aware of the sacrifices required, it can often lead to the
dissolution of a relationship or marriage. Some couples will adopt a dog
as a trial run to see if they might make suitable parents. In some
cases, adopting a pet or having a child is a way to keep the
relationship alive when you've gotten bored with your partner.
In writer/director Ben Petrie's feature debut The Heirloom, a couple adopts a dog only to find that sharing their lives with a
small creature highlights how they may not be as compatible as they once
believed, that they have very different priorities.
Set during the COVID lockdown, that time when many couples sought a
distraction from the claustrophobia of their own company, The Heirloom is inspired by Petrie's real life experience of adopting a dog
during that period with his romantic and creative partner Grace Glowicki. Here the couple play Eric and Allie, a pair of millennial Toronto
creatives stuck in their home during the lockdown. The two have very
different personalities. Eric is a filmmaker who overthinks things,
which probably explains why he's struggled to work on his screenplay for
so long. Allie is carefree and spontaneous. Eric prioritises his work.
Allie longs for a family.
After much toing and froing, Allie eventually convinces Eric to adopt a
rescue dog from the Dominican Republic. Into their lives comes Milly, a
saucer-eyed whippet the pair immediately fall for.
What follows is a sort of Mumblecore Marley & Me. We watch as Milly initially brings joy to Eric and Allie and
reinvigorates their relationship. Eric even becomes inspired to make a
movie about Milly, which sees The Heirloom go all meta as we become increasingly unsure if what we're
watching is real or part of Eric's well-rehearsed film. Certain
interactions are replayed as though from different takes, and at one
point a boom operator makes their way through the shot. There's the
obligatory dog movie health scare, which sees Eric and Allie make a dash
through a snowbound Toronto to a vet.
It's difficult to get invested in The Heirloom with its lack of drama. Though it appears to have been shot after
lockdown, it resembles the sort of half-formed works that many
filmmakers slapped together while they were stuck at home during that
period. Only Kelly Jeffrey's elegant cinematography makes it
stand out from most pandemic movies, with one especially striking
night-time shot of Eric walking Milly with the Toronto skyline
glistening in the background.
The meta elements mean we struggle to distinguish Eric and Allie from
their fictional selves. That's the point, a feature not a flaw. But the
same can be said about Petrie and Glowicki themselves. Even in the early
scenes before Eric has conceived of his film, it often feels like we're
watching the actors rather than their characters, and there are moments
where their stifled smirks betray a sense that it's just two bored
creative people having a lark.
Allie's yearning for a family of her own is symbolised by the recurring
image of her watching old home movies. Eric struggles to connect with
the images his partner finds joy in, because the people within them
aren't his own family. Ironically, that's how you may feel
watching The Heirloom, which largely plays like a very polished home movie made by two
artists seeking a distraction while the rest of us settled for making
sourdough.
The Heirloom is in Canadian
cinemas from November 28th. A UK/ROI release has yet to be
announced.
