Review of Hereditary (2018) by Charles B — 14 Jun 2018

Hereditary has the framework of a by-the-numbers horror film. In many ways, it is a by-the-numbers horror film, yet in many ways it isn't. It's clear that this was Ari Aster's intention, and in most ways he succeeded in creating something that is both familiar and unique.

The film sets familiar groundwork, but then layers are peeled away and the picture we're looking at becomes more and more unsettling. Early in the film we're offered glances at potentially terrifying situations, but rather than shoving in our faces for a cheap scare, they're dangled in front of us and then pulled away. In one of these scenes, Annie sees her mother standing in a dark corner. She turns on a light and the apparition vanishes. Ok, I've seen this before. Annie then crosses the room and turns away one of her sculptures in which she's holding the newborn Charlie and her mother is standing over her, exposing her breast because she insists on feeding the child. Ok, what the hell am I watching?

The film succeeds in the ways that it toys with the expected and the shockingly unexpected, and it succeeds in the portrayal of guilt and grief and what they do to the human mind and body. These emotions are the backdrop and the catalyst to the actual horror of the film. This is more a film about helplessness and pain and their destruction of an already troubled family than it is about the supernatural happenings that are ultimately leading to the family's actual, physical destruction. The acting, especially by Toni Collette, to drive these themes home is nothing short of impressive, and at times, bone-chilling. The delivery of her lines and the quality of writing in the dialogue gives it an authentic feel and fills what is otherwise another supernatural horror film with a tragic sense of humanity.

While I do wish to praise the writing for excellent dialogue and the ability to peel back the layers of the story and the characters in a way that slowly reveals the kind of messed up people we're watching, I also found some of it to be too convenient and unlikely. For instance, I find it hard to believe that a family with a child who has a severe nut allergy would be careless enough to not bring her EpiPen with them not once, but twice in the first thirty minutes of the film. If they are, it's a wonder the girl even survived for thirteen years.

Overall, my complaints are minimal. The film is not terribly frightening, but it is disturbing as hell. It evoked emotions in me that I've probably never experienced while watching a movie, and I'd call that a good thing. I don't feel like I completely understand everything that I saw, but I want to watch it again so that I can draw more conclusions. For a film that unsettled and disturbed me as much as this one, the fact that it makes me want to return to it and experience the tragedy and pain all over again so that I can understand it better is pretty impressive.

I give it four group therapy sessions out of five.