Hereditary - Review

Hereditary - Review

Critics are calling it the next Exorcist, audiences calling it the scariest film of the year, yes, it's Hereditary. 

Firstly, I really, really highly recommend going into this film blind. There is a turning point in the film that physically made me gasp and I would hate to take that away from anyone else.

With this in mind, let's get on to the plot. As with Get Out and many of the 2017/2018 horror films, to understand and appreciate Hereditary one needs to enter a viewing without the expectation of watching a horror movie. It is, first and foremost a family dramedy, and secondarily, a horror film. The plot is a complicated one, but I will try to make it brief. The film begins with the death of the family matriarch. Through the exposition of attending a grief counselling group, her daughter, Annie, reveals more details about her life, and the history of tragedy and death in her family. Peter, her son, asks if he can go to a party, Annie agrees but says that he must take his younger sister Charlie. SPOILERS - then, Charlie goes into anaphalactic shock so Peter must drive her to hospital. On their way the tension builds, until Charlie sticks her head out of a window, struggling to breathe, but suddenly a telephone pole appears and Charlie’s head smashes into it killing her instantly. This is all in the first half of the film. The second half of the film is a descent into madness and demon worship.

Hereditary was one of my favourite films of the year, and ranks high on my list of favourite horror films, however the one thing I cannot be enthusiastic about is the ending. Let's talk about the ending of this film. Director Ari Aster spends almost 2 hours building incredible tension, raising all sorts of questions and doubts in the mind of the viewer, only to reveal the reason behind it all...naked devil worship cult. Sigh. I think this ending is all the more disappointing for just how good the rest of the film is. Whilst the plot does *technically* make sense, the ending could've gone in several other directions without making any major changes to the earlier scenes. I think the worst thing about it is it feels so cheap, I was rolling my eyes and I can pinpoint the exact moment, which was when the son went up to the attic. Suddenly, our main character of Annie is cheese wiring her head off, the son is falling out the window to his death, and a creepy blue orb enters his body to use it as a vessel. That was the moment, about 5 minutes from the end, that I was done with this film. 

Rating: 9/10 before the ending, 7/10 afterwards

Similar films: Rosemary's Baby, The Babadook, The Exorcist, The Taking of Deborah Logan, We Need to Talk About Kevin