“Hereditary” isn’t for everybody; I understand that. Some people who go to see horror movies come in with an internal ranking of importance, starting with jump-scares, followed by gore, followed by more jump-scares. For those audiences, this movie may not be for you. But it should be. Honestly, even if you don’t tend to lean towards the more formulaic horror tropes, “Hereditary” may still be a mixed bag for you. But you should still give it a try. Most of “Hereditary” scared me in a way that kept me up at night, not necessarily causing me to stare into a dark corner waiting for something to jump out, but more so marinating in thought, mulling over the films more disturbing tics. For me this film was like a worm that burrowed into my ear and settled into my brain, only to then make miniature replicas of a worm burrowing into my brain.
The story follows a family (mom, dad, son and daughter) after the death of the grandmother. We follow the mother (Toni Collette) a woman who builds miniature replicas as art installations, as she attempts to come to grips with the loss of her mother, a woman she didn’t much care for. We also follow the daughter (Milly Shapiro) as she begins to notice odd things like men smiling at her grandmother’s funeral, a flickering light that only she can see, and her dead grandmother waving at her from across the street of her school. This goes on for a little while and then things get disturbing. And if you think you know what’s going to happen next, you don’t. We’ll just say, this is a movie that begs for a big fireworks display ending, and it gets one.
Let’s get this out of the way, writer/director Ari Aster (who I’ve been a champion off ever since “The Strange Thing About the Johnsons”) does a fantastic job of slowly cranking up the uncomfortable atmosphere of this over 2 hour movie, until it overflows and burns down the house. Second, the acting here from Collette is award worthy. Even when this movie plays on the edge of ridiculous, I believed every syllable Collette uttered. Also, newcomer Shapiro and Ann Dowd give understated, but strong performances. As for the story, the first half (a half which is perfection) plays out as less of a conventional horror genre piece and more like a movie detailing how different members of a family process the loss of a rather abusive family member, with a nice horror glaze topping. The second half is more of a calorie filled horror film, but not conventional by any means. This is where the film will lose some. I don’t know that even I fully understood or even liked all of the twists and turns “Hereditary” takes in this second half, but I still can’t stop thinking about them and immediately wanted a second viewing.
Final Thought: Maybe this is a better analogy: “Hereditary” is the equivalent of getting into a crowded elevator where one person is facing the back wall. It’s disturbing the more you stay with it. Some will cut their losses and simply become frustrated and leave the elevator, while others will investigate and try to make sense of it, before maybe becoming frustrated as well. But others will allow the unease of the situation to build and wash over them. It is my opinion that everyone should try and let a movie like this wash over them at least once in their lives. And nowadays, in the era of “Purge” prequels and “Halloween” sequels, what more could you ask for out of your horror movies, other than to be different?
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