My thoughts on Hereditary

Much like many of Hereditary’s brilliantly layered characters, I was sucked into a  disturbingly dark story with such breakneck force that I was a little overwhelmed at first. Almost immediately I was hooked on the unsettling score and Pogorzelski’s incredible cinematography, but it was Toni Collette’s mesmerising portrayal of Annie that kept me invested through to the credits. Could this be a classic in the making?

Whilst the ending is sure to divide audiences, for me, the joy (or rather the satisfaction, for there does appear to be a real absence of joy in this movie) comes from unravelling its corkscrewing plot. It seemed that every time I thought I could see where the story was heading, I was hit with a curveball that left me reeling; sitting up in my seat, hungry for more. 

We enter the story following the death of Annie’s mother, Ellen, who is given a secretive and almost beguiling aura that carries much of the story through to what is undoubtedly the movie’s most shocking and pivotal moments (the likes of which I haven’t experienced in a long while). It is following this moment that things begin to get seriously weird.

That isn’t to say that this movie is not susceptible to the occasional horror movie tropes, however, because there are plenty. Of course we see a spooky demonic book written in an unknown language, the occasional cheap jump-scare, and a seance or two thrown in for good measure; but it must be said that director Ari Aster deals with these superbly. He takes what could easily be cheesy and laughable in another’s hands and makes it tense and believable. What could be mindless blood and head-twisting horror, Aster opts instead for the slow and the tense. What could be loud bangs and blood curdling shrieks, Aster chooses silence, using subtlety to inspire a sense of oddness. Where could this go next?

I’m not sure I would say this was a particularly scary movie, however, especially when this is being heralded as The Exorcist of the modern age. I was genuinely creeped out in parts, shocked in others, and even disgusted a time or two, but I can’t say that I was ever scared. I didn’t go to bed that night in fear of a boogeyman in the corner, or a demon beneath my bed. The ending must also be addressed, and carefully too. Without spoiling anything, it can’t be ignored that the final minute falls a little flat, promising much more with its riveting two hour journey than it eventually delivers. It is with these two points in mind that, for me, this movie falls just short of a horror masterpiece.

Verdict.

Ari Aster’s debut, Hereditary, delivers a disturbing, dark and unforgettable look at a grief-stricken mother dealing with unrelenting tragedy. You will be left guessing from the first few minutes to the last, hooked on incredible acting and a plot that’ll throw you around more than a rag-doll in the jaws of a Rottweiler. An ending that falls just shy of perhaps what was promised with its tantalising story, and a feeling that I could have been scared a bit more by some of its tensest moments, meant that Hereditary is a great movie but not without its flaws.

9/10