“We are who we are because they were who they were.” - unknown
I have talked about this a lot and I’m going to again so bear with me for a moment. I was raised being allowed to watch some pretty questionable content at a young age. I was well versed in the Die Hard movies by the age of six. The only off-limits content was horror. But my best friend growing up and his family didn’t need to know that and they were big horror movie enthusiasts. So often when I was at his house I was getting my horror movie education. And it all started with Halloween. It was not only my first horror movie but it was the first movie to ever give me nightmares. The dead-eyed demeanor of a serial killer just sank in like nothing else could before or ever since. I was maybe ten years old at the time.
As I have gotten older and my “saw it” list for movies has grown exponentially I have become well-versed in the horror genre. One thing that remained true throughout is that ever since Halloween, no movie ever got under my skin in such a way ever again. So, and this only makes sense I think to horror movie lovers, I was looking for that horror movie high once again. I wanted the movie that sunk its claws into my skin and peeled it back without remorse. (I have weird goals, huh?) And for years I searched to no avail. Then 2018 came around and introduced the world to Ari Aster and his debut feature abomination, Hereditary.
And it finally happened. At twenty-nine years of age, after waiting nearly two decades, a movie came along that genuinely left me in shambles. I was stunned speechless by the audacity of it. It was bold, horrifying, disgusting, unbelievably discomforting, and absolutely masterful. I went home after seeing it with a friend, we drove home in silence, and I naturally began turning on all the lights. It left me nervous and weirdly excited. I hadn’t ever experienced anything like it before. (To the tough guys who actually learned how to read and may stumble upon this one day: NO ONE CARES if it doesn't scare you. You’re not impressing anyone. Now hush.) Hereditary was suddenly on my radar as possibly my new favorite horror movie of all-time. After seeing it a few more times, it cemented itself as my new favorite.
Not only was it exciting to have a new favorite horror movie, it was thrilling to consider that a new horror master was making his debut. The thoughts of what could be on the horizon from Ari Aster was compelling to say the least. And while his follow-up projects haven’t been as amazing as Hereditary, with the exception of maybe Midsommar, they were exhilarating examples of his unique vision and willingness to go well beyond the normal threshold of horror. He was an exciting voice from the beginning and has remained so six years later. He’s even caught the attention of Martin Scorsese which is its own kind of achievement.
Hereditary is effective for many reasons. What sticks out for me is the circumvention of expectations when it comes to how it will be scary and what will be used to make the attempt. First and foremost, no empty jump scares. This is A24 horror at its best. Slow burn, psychological and merciless. You see things in the darkness and brace only for it to simply linger and hold for what feels like forever. It forces you to examine practically every frame for fear of something lurking, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere.
It’s especially impactful because it violates the one thing in our world that should be a constant presence of comfort and safety in our most lost and desperate moments and that is the sanctity of family. We learn of the vileness that the grand matriarch partook in throughout her life and the tendrils of such decisions as they took hold of her unsuspecting family even after her death. Through bizarre life choices her presence carried on long after her body was laid to rest with extremely disquieting results. It would be a safe assumption as well to believe her decisions would naturally alter her family’s trajectory with a title like Hereditary. It begins with the newly anointed matriarch of the Graham family, Annie.
Annie is mother to her son Peter, Daughter Charlie and wife to Steve. Although struggling with the loss of her mother, their grandmother, a woman we discover to have been less than ideal as a mother, the Grahams were a relatively normal family. Starting slowly, Annie believes her strange experiences have been due to stress from losing her mother and being on the hook for an upcoming art exhibit featuring her work in miniatures.
Before long however she begins to learn that things are never going to get better unless she tries something to right the ship. She turns to supernatural options unleashing unimaginable horrors against her and her family. Through her fruitless search for answers she goes deeper into this dark world of connecting with the afterlife only making things worse as she discovers secrets about her family that change everything she understands about reality itself. Evil forces, alive and dead, are closing in on the Graham family and if they get what they want, our world may never be the same again.
If there was true justice in this world, horror would have a place during awards season. With acting masterclasses like Essie Davis in The Babadook and Toni Collette's masterful performance in Hereditary, the antiquated opinions of the awards academies is more apparent than ever before. Toni Collette being ignored simply because of the genre is a cinematic crime. She is a force of nature as Annie. She is all at once broken, fierce, torn, evil and a torrential downpour of emotional terror. She is an absolute revelation and her exclusion during awards season is inexcusable.
Hereditary is a part of the resurgence of horror that refuses to allow the genre to be contained within a set of parameters that people think it should stay in. Particularly people who don’t even like these kinds of movies, they seem to still have opinions on the matter. Part of this elevating the genre is incorporating the same techniques and tools used on the set of any potential Oscar contender. I believe it is or should be the overall goal of modern horror to establish itself as a genre demanding to be respected as much as any other genre, from drama to comedy and everything in-between. Horror is here to stay, despite the best efforts of religious Karens with giant bible shaped sticks shoved up their pretentious asses.
To ensure its continued presence, horror must be executed with precision, expertise and care in the same way a best picture contender would be created. Extraordinary cinematography, fully realized, arching characters and dramatic plot points to drive the story forward in a logical direction and with these things the contents of these stories, however disturbing or violent they may be, shouldn’t matter. Of course there’s more to it than that but it’s a step in the right direction and as a debut, Ari Aster executed everything perfectly. The sweeping shots, the slow, methodical zooms, the lingering shots, the hidden scares within shadows and dark rooms and brazen, borderline insane storytelling make Hereditary a shining example of what it looks like when horror is taken seriously. I believe we are in a renaissance of horror and Hereditary is undeniably a part of its revival. It’s a fantastic time to be a horror fan.
Rated R For: horror violence, disturbing images, language, drug use and brief graphic nudity
Runtime: 127 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Horror, Drama
Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne
Directed By: Ari Aster
Out of 10
Story: 10/ Acting: 10/ Directing: 10/ Visuals: 10
OVERALL: 10/10
Buy to Own: Yes.
Check out the trailer below:
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