If you ask anyone what makes a great horror movie, the most likely answer you will get is the amount of jumpscares and the grotesque nature of mutilated bodies that accompanies a film. Though one aspect that horror films don’t usually manage to embrace is the everyday struggles that plague all humans alike: those the relationships in our family. In one of the most entertaining, disturbing and mind-bending films of this year, “Hereditary” offers a grim look at what horrors accompany a family that is dealing with the grief of death, the hardship of mental illness and the horrors of the supernatural.
“Hereditary” follows the story of Annie Graham (Toni Collette, “The Sixth Sense”) as she bears the sadness of burying her mother, when a slew of family tragedies soon accompanies the already numb and distraught Annie. Annie eventually falls in the hands of a friend, Joan Ann Dowd (“Our Brand Is Crisis”) who promises serenity in the hands of connecting to her deceased family through a seance. In doing so, Annie brings a tide of horror to the rest of the family as she is left to deal with different supernatural forces and the secrets of her mother, all while still trying to bear a grip on fixing what seems to be a wreck of a family.
One of the most mesmerizing things about the film is its subtle use of weaving different heavy mainstream issues of loss of life and the hardness that comes with mental illness. The film’s main character Annie has dissociative identity disorder, and the film uses this as one of the more identifying traits of the character. There are different quirks and subtle actions of Annie we see as she engages in creating small dioramas as a way to properly deal with the loss of life that accompanies her family. It is through these very real and gripping moments that we get so much life to Annie’s character, and the rest of the family plays off of this in a way that shows such a great chemistry between all the actors. At times, we see how the entire family represents a greater group of problems than just mental illness, but also the loss of life. The portrayals by Alex Wolf (“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”) as the son of Annie and Gabriel Byrne (“The Usual Suspects”) as Annie’s husband are true sentiments to the ferocity that loss represents in such a distraught family. The loud, destructive nature of Wolf’s character speaks to the understanding of grievance for many teens dealing with loss.
One can also consider the film’s use of disturbing imagery coupled by vivid and profound camera work. The shots of dark skies, fast-paced one shots and medium close ups make for a feeling of claustrophobia. The images and the different Greek symbols that are hidden throughout the movie are also very unnerving as the camera plays with the pull of the focus to almost hint at the little inconsistencies that begin to creep in our minds as we question: to what extent are things really there or just our imagination?
Overall, “Hereditary” is a film that should be watched with caution; it is a very unnerving and scary depiction of the many things that families come to fall apart over. The realness that director Ari Aster gives to the different horrors of life are so powerful and symbolize so much. Though the film does run a bit long and lacks in its pacing in the very start of the movie, there isn’t any other movie that will make you feel so unnerved and numb to the disturbing power that “Hereditary” has to offer as a horror film. This is a film that breaks many barriers and doesn’t linger on the old jumpscares and blood that old horror movies have long been overusing. It just delivers its shocking tale of chills in so many unexpected ways that you will not stop thinking about the experience you just had.
Rating – A-
