Despite its flaws, Phoebe Dynevor carries the film with an assured performance, welcoming the challenge of filming guerrilla-style.

The spy thriller’s vaguely impressionistic feel is due to the desire of Burger — whose movies include “The Illusionist” (2006), “Limitless” (2011), “Divergent” (2014) and 2023’s disappointing “The Marsh King’s Daughter” — for the production to go unnoticed on location in population centers around the globe including New Delhi, Seoul and Cairo.

What an artist intended with the choices they left behind won't always matter to the audience, but Neil Burger's "Inheritance" is worth researching before you buy the ticket. Knowing how this strangely pedestrian thriller got produced not only makes it far more enjoyable to watch but highlights a new storytelling approach that might work better on the second try.

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,