(Possible, Mild Spoilers)
I don’t get scared at
horror movies. I am able to watch them, enjoy the thrill, and then move on. The
best horror films, for me, are the ones which can actually frighten me; the
ones which can genuinely unnerve me, and which prove difficult to leave behind.
Hereditary, the debut film of
director Ari Aster, is one of those movies. Indeed, Hereditary is chock full of ideas which are nothing short of terrifying.
It’s a word I do not use
lightly.
From the start, Hereditary sets out to create an
atmosphere of unrelenting dread, and that palpable sense of foreboding is
simply unrelenting throughout the film’s two-hour running time. Not since the
Australian horror film, The Babadook
(2014) have I seen a film which is so convincing and so real in its portrayal
of grief, loss, and its devastating repercussions. However, Hereditary separates itself from its Aussie
predecessor in that it boasts a labyrinth-like plot, which manages to at once
invoke other genre classics as diverse as Rosemary’s
Baby (1968), The Exorcist, and The Wicker Man (both 1973).
This most unique of plots
– which builds upon the tropes used ad nauseam
in countless other horror movies but which undercuts or subverts them to tremendous
affect – is also brilliantly acted. The centerpiece of the film is the poignant
performance by Toni Collette as a grieving mother, but she is complimented by
Alex Wolff as her son, and Gabriel Byrne as her uncomprehending husband.
Director Ari Aster proves
himself incredibly adept at pulling audience’s puppet strings with Hereditary. Overflowing with spine-chilling
images and gruesome set pieces, it’s a formidable film to say the least. Critics
have already called the film a modern classic, and the praise is certainly not
hyperbolic.
For my part, it’s a
horror film which genuinely scared me.
And that is praise enough.
