Hereditary – Movie Review

Hereditary – R
Release Date: Fri 8 June 2018

Writer/director Ari Aster brings us this drama dripping with mystery, dread and some downright horror. Toni Collette plays Annie, whose troubled mother has died just as the movie begins. Her daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) starts acting strangely.

It would be easy for Hereditary to have been a pat horror movie up front with it’s subtext about the way that mental illness can run in a family. Instead, the movie lures you in with it’s achingly beautiful cinematography and creates tension by holding or following a shot for much longer than anticipated. There’s not a cheap jump scare in the entire movie – which is a modern miracle.

Still, there are plenty of audiences (mine included) that felt confused and were more than ready to leave when the credits rolled. This isn’t a crowd-pleasing horror movie that dumbs itself down to be completely absorbed in one sitting. Instead, it’s a more opaque and layered movie with many clues you’ll know to listen for closer on a second and third viewing.

Even if it sounds good to you, it may be worth waiting until you can watch it at home. Just so you can avoid the nervous laughter and flat out “what the hell?”‘s a live audience is likely to give off. I really enjoyed it, but I went in with a little extra information about how little it holds your hand.

Aaron, Cal and I saw it in the theater and had a discussion in the car: