Hereditary falls right in line with the majority of A24’s ventures into “horror” genre, in the sense that it is as much about the subject family's internal struggles and relationships as much as it is about trying to creep the shit out of you. It's an admirable approach, focusing on human interactions and genuine character development, in what is nearly a creatively bankrupt genre, at least in the mainstream, and one that tends to favor cheap, recycled “scares” over any reason to legitimately care about the characters in peril. Hereditary pulls off this balance of emotional resonance and psychological thrills with much greater success than the studio's previous family drama/thriller films It Comes at Night and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It falls somewhat behind The Witch, however, which cemented itself as a modern benchmark for both atmospheric, psychological terror and period authenticity, (as well as being one A24's very best films).
But Hereditary, like The Witch, is one of those movies that simply needs to be “experienced” to be understood. It's not something everyone will like, or even appreciate, even among the most avid horror fans. But it's an unpredictable, creative, at times charming, and mostly downright weird journey that jumps back and forth between simple suspense and off-putting disturbia, before descending into utterly chaotic madness during its final minutes.
The plot beats are relatively familiar, but they're elevated by solid performances and writer-director Ari Aster’s twisted vision of fear. The premise is simple enough: the Graham family (Annie and Steven, and their two children, younger daughter Charlie and older son Peter) apathetically mourn the loss of the family matriarch, Annie's mother Ellen. Annie and her mother did not have a particularly trusting relationship, as Ellen was cold, secretive, and selfish. However, family's family, and the Graham's pay their dues at the funeral and try to move on to life without Ellen taking up space in the home. Annie (Toni Collette) is an artist who creates miniatures and dioramas of scenes both real and fictional; she struggles to mend her damaged and distant relationship to her children, especially her son. Peter (Alex Wolff) tries to numb his insecurities and the resentment of his mother by self-medicating with parties and marijuana. Charlie, his younger sister (Milly Shapiro), is the “odd” one of the family, who speaks very little, creates makeshift dolls out of found object, and draws a lot. Oh, and she makes this ingratiating clicking noise with her mouth, which the film (and in my viewing, many members of the audience) loves to exploit. Steven (Gabriel Byrne) is a tired but devoted father who simply wants to maintain peace in the household. The Graham's biggest problem, as, I'm sure, is the case with many families, is that they don't communicate openly to each other. Peter hides his deviant behavior and ignores his mom's prying inquiries into what's going on in his life; likewise, Annie refuses to talk to her husband about her grief and buries herself in her artwork.
However, it's no spoiler to say that the family's troubles don't end with their personal relationships. In the aftermath of Ellen's death, things start to get a little creepy and kooky in the Graham household. People start seeing, feeling, and hearing things. And things only get worse as Annie begins to uncover the secrets of her mother's life.
It's hard to go any further down the plot than that without taking away the movie's power, though I must insist that it takes several turns you wouldn't expect—turns that make it immensely more interesting than the majority of horror fare being put out today.
But where Hereditary truly shines is in the details of its craftsmanship. Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski gives a masterclass in horror lighting, taking the frame as dark as he can while still providing just the tiniest amount of detail that will make you think, “Wait, is something there? [staring a few moments longer] Holy shit, something's there!” It's a rare breed of eye-adjustment terror that's both haunting as a viewer and incredibly refreshing as someone who consumes a lot of this stuff. Pogorzelski does great work with depth of field, focal point, and clever transitions as well, which, when put together make a film that's pretty to look at whether or not it's trying to scare you.
The main cast does stellar work, however, it's Toni Collette and, surprisingly, Alex Wolff who put out the best performances. Collette’s Annie teeters back and forth on the tightrope between desperate, protective motherhood and traumatizing lunacy. Wolff commits himself fully to poor, poor Peter, who arguably gets the shortest end of the deal when everything starts going haywire. It might be the most empathetically pitiful character/performance I've seen this year. You just feel so bad for the kid the more the story unfolds.
Unfortunately, with a movie like Hereditary, it can be understandably difficult to wrap up a movie that's so willing to go to strange and hair-raising corners. The very end is where Hereditary kind of lost me. I can't describe the scene in detail, obviously, but it felt like a bit of a non-ending in my eyes. Perhaps I took the last frame of the film too literally, but it certainly deflated the film's conflict for me, creating a sense of “wait, so was it X the whole time? Or was it Y? Hold on, does it matter? I don't think I care anymore.” I wouldn't say it undermines the entire film, but it kind of pulls the rug out from under the weight of the drama and terror leading up to the finale. It's not a twist, per se, but just such a bizarre culmination to an already weird climax. I don't know, I suppose it's fitting.
But otherwise, Hereditary is gripping and quite frankly, perversely amusing, for all of its weird and unexpected turns. The sound design, as well, heightens the suspense to create fear in ways that most films fail to. Some may find the climax and/or conclusion either unsatisfying or simply too weird to buy into, but it's a fantastic ride there. I certainly look forward to what Ari Aster has in store for us in his future projects, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really hope to see Alex Wolff in more mature projects like this one.