Review: Hereditary

Toni Collette plays a miniature diorama artist struggling to get her latest piece together, whilst also trying to keep herself and her family together. Her estranged mother has just died, and it seems to have triggered something in her. Her daughter Milly Shapiro also starts behaving peculiarly, whilst older teen son Alex Wolff feels burdened by having to include his sister in everything, when he wants to party and experiment with drugs. The dad, played by Gabriel Byrne, is a stable sort of fellow but not an especially effective presence at this point in their lives. A family tragedy makes things even worse for Collette, who also comes into contact with a psychic medium of-sorts (Ann Dowd – who no one will find reassuring on screen anymore after “The Handmaid’s Tale”) who apparently knew her mother. It only gets worse – and weirder- from there for not just Collette but Wolff, too.

“The Last Jedi” of horror films, this 2018 flick from writer-director Ari Aster was met with mostly praise by critics, and wildly divided audiences (though plenty of people at least saw it, it was a box-office hit). Having now seen the film myself, I’m mostly siding with the critics here. It’s certainly better than the jump-scare overdosing “A Quiet Place”, and although the influences are there for all to see, the film is no mere rip-off. It’s not a great film (and sadly, it could’ve been), but boy is this still a good, if rather fucked up film.

It’s a good-looking film, starting with an interesting tracking shot, and there’s also a creepy and effective soundscape. Speaking of creepy, Milly Shapiro gives a weird, creepy performance playing a weird and creepy young girl. In addition to films like “Don’t Look Now” and “Rosemary’s Baby” as influences, you also get a mood and building sense of uncomfortable dread slightly reminiscent of “The Shining”. I can see why this divided audiences, especially those brought up on “The Conjuring” and the like, as this is not an easy watch. This isn’t a typical horror film, and even the most ‘normal-seeming’ characters don’t always react in ‘normal’ ways in this. It’s more psychological horror than perhaps the Blumhouse crowd were expecting. Having grown up on Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion” (still the most terrifying film I’ve ever seen), that wasn’t an issue for me. I’m grateful for a film like this existing to shake everybody up a bit, horror shouldn’t necessarily be easy or comfortable. Here’s a film that yes, touches on the supernatural, but from a more grounded place that doesn’t take it easy on you. That doesn’t mean the film is entirely devoid of the more overt aspects of horror like violence, gore, and even seances. It’s just that it’s not one of the more cookie-cutter, Happy Meal horror films that get churned out of the same ‘jump’ scare factory. One absolutely disgusting visual about 30 minutes in is very unexpected, but it’s certainly effectively horrifying.

Aside from Gabriel Byrne giving the same performance he does in everything else, the cast here are all effective, with Toni Collette’s overwrought facial expressions being put to good, distraught use. She’s a helluva crier, too. But for me, it’s the style and mood here that are absolutely exemplary. I particularly liked that unlike say “A Quiet Place”, there was very little usage of the tired ‘jump’ scare motif that has plagued so-called horror films for far too long. See, it can be done. What this film touches upon is real terror, not just things making loud sudden noises that they simply wouldn’t in real-life. It’s also, unlike “The Conjuring” and a few other recent horror films I could name, an effective blend of horror and drama. The writer-director has figured out how to make that work, too. I just wish it weren’t so obvious in its plotting. The title alone tips you off a bit too much, I think, and that’s a shame because for mood and atmosphere this thing is great. Plot-wise it’s just alright . Overall, that results in it being good.

Although it carves out its own identity, the best way to describe this uncomfortable but effective film is as a mixture of “Pet Sematary”, “Don’t Look Now”, “Donnie Darko”, “The Ice Storm”, and “The Babadook”. If that sounds like your idea of a good movie, you just might enjoy this, though the movie’s infamously bad D+ audience rating on CinemaScore suggests it won’t be for everyone. For me, it’s a good film but it could’ve been incredible if not for a bit of predictability and a couple of dopey OTT moments that don’t belong. Still solid stuff, Alex Wolff and especially Toni Collette are ideal. Just be aware that it’s not overly original, but also not your conventional, ‘jump’ scare horror pic. The writer-director has somewhat higher ambitions than that. Heck of a debut for Aster, I can’t wait to see the next effort.

Rating: B-