300 Words on "Hereditary" (2018)

(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.