Hereditary (2018) – Ari Aster
I love, love, love, horror movies. They’re visceral, exciting, make you think about death, often have boobs, or when they’re even better, make you consider something deep and buried inside you that you didn’t even realize terrified you (which is objectively better than boobs. Sorry, boobs). The best horror movies (of recent in particular) take something relatable and take it to the extreme. I know I keep talking about Jordan Peele’s Get Out in these reviews, but I can’t help it because it’s such a good representation of what horror movies can be. It’s simple yet complex, funny but unnerving, and most of all: it’s original and scary. Boom, that’s a horror movie. When I first saw the trailer for Hereditary, I will be completely honest that I had no idea what it was about, all I knew was that the trailer was viscerally disturbing. I almost hated it (in a good, I-know-I’m-going-to-be-scared-way). I was hesitant to see the flick in theatres because of how uncomfortably terrifying the movie looked. But clearly, I did, and fuck am I glad I did. It might not have been the scariest movie I’ve ever seen (Thanks, The Shining, for still making me be terrified of things like big hotels, twins, and period elevators), but Hereditary, from start to finish, is a perfect rendering of horror, cushioned brilliantly in the unsuspecting arms of a familial drama. It didn’t stop or let down once, and I loved it.
I am 100% uninterested in divulging any major plot points, so the whole synopsis part of this review is going to have to be a bit slight, but trust me it’s for the best. To be honest, you shouldn’t even be reading this review before you see the movie (if you haven’t already seen it, however, don’t close this page, I love you and I need people to read my words or…what if I just fade away?!). Toni Collette stars (magnificently, I must add) as Annie, wife and mother of two who is just burying her mother. Her and her mother’s relationship was…fraught. Through very little exposition (this movie has literally no exposition and just typing that sentence makes my cinematic pants tighten) we discover that her mother was a secretive and difficult woman. She may have passed some of these traits onto her granddaughter, Charlie, who, at thirteen, is peculiar, quiet, uninterested in most human interaction, and does some not-so-normal stuff like cutting off dead bird’s heads and pocketing them for…I don’t know, later? I really can’t go into any more plot details than that, so if you’re interested in finding out exactly what you’re in for, this review is going to be largely unhelpful for you.
What I can tell you, however, is I have scarcely ever seen a horror movie like this before. Sure, lots of horror movies have posited themselves in the midst of a family tragedy; grief and loss leading to terrifying circumstances and behavior that cannot be easily explained by worldly excuses. But there’s something so much more immediate and creepingly terrifying about Hereditary. First time director Ari Aster definitely has the slow creeping dread part down (I love slow creeping dread. Give me slow, building tension over cheap jump scares any day of the week. I love it more than cheesy gordito crunches. True story), but it’s not just that. The movie exists on a scarily relatable level that most horror movies rarely pull off. There are long stretches of film where nary a thing supernatural or even “horror movie” related happen, but the movie slowly builds and builds to a point of no return, expertly using set direction, cinematography, and score (or lack thereof) to enrich the anxiety of the movie’s experience. It might not be fingers-over-eyes scary, but what movie has been since you were 11-years-old? The undeniable sense of dread drenched in every scene is more than enough.
There’s something else this movie has working for it that most horror movies don’t: Some of the best performances I have ever seen in a scary movie. Toni Collette, who is fucking awesome (and for whom I am so going to rewatch The Sixth Sense tonight) anchors the entire movie. Without spoiling much, some of the movie does exist in the horror trope where we’re not quite sure what is real and what’s imagined, born of a mother’s grief. That could possibly get tiresome but never even comes close because Collette does such a superb, perfect job as a mother who we can’t be sure we trust. She’s upset, dealing with a lot, and can’t quite be sure what she’s going to do next, and she makes the movie. If Toni Collette is not at least nominated for this movie I am never going to watch the Academy Awards again (that is a 100% lie, but I promise I won’t shut up about how badly she was snubbed the entire time). But it doesn’t just stop there. The whole family rounds out the domestic terror, bringing relatability and fear to every scene. Is your mother insane? Has your wife lost her grip on reality and is she a danger to you and your children? The subtle yet visceral performances by Gabriel Byrne (KEYZZER SOZE), Alex Wolff (who was amazing, and I’m glad wasn’t just in that shitty Jumani sequel), and the wonderfully reticent and well-make-upped Milly Shapiro. Horror movies (Get Out notwithstanding) have rarely had the performances necessary to sell such a complex, oblique horror vision before.
But what really matters is, “Is it scary?” Well kudos to you for asking the obvious, but let me be the first to answer it justly: It is. It builds and builds and finally culminates to the point of terror based in character and narrative that few movies ever attain. Th ending is scary, strange, upending, and unexpected. It’s fantastic. This movie delivers on all the points a horror movie needs to. Aster, as director, really does build to an unforgettable ending experience.
After spending some time with it, I love how hard this movie is to define. I’m not even sure I’m totally sure what happened at the end, but it was a terrifying build to something that I couldn’t possibly expect. And isn’t that exactly what we want when we watch horror movies? A) To be scared, and B) To be surprised by how scared we are. Hereditary is definitely surprising. It does a great job making us care about each character in its own way, a way that isn’t afraid to not only build on the emotions the audience has curated for each family member, but, more importantly, skew it at just the right moment to make us confused and exhilarated. This review seems scarce on details and specific things about Aster’s overall vision that make it so complete, but to give more information would be a disservice to the unbelievably exciting and pleasurable viewing experience Hereditary creates from its first scene. There’s a running motif of miniature figurines and houses throughout the movie (Annie’s job is, as guessed, making miniatures), and the minute attention to detail that she puts into her work is so wonderfully translated to the overall vision of the movie. It’s ornate, beautiful, detailed, and created a world so singular, distressing, and at times terrifying, that I couldn’t help but stare on in wide-eyed, almost perverse, glee. Hereditary is scary, visceral, and feels real. It’s a fantastic horror movie, and you should go see it.
Grade: See it. Now.
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