Hereditary (2018)

[RandomCat]

3 hours ago, Jake Gittes said:

As glad as I am that Collette got this type of showcase (and killed it), Essie Davis already played an all-time great version of basically this role in The Babadook. 

Now I just want to double feature Hereditary and The Babadook. 

 

Or just watch Babadook again.

[RandomCat]

3 minutes ago, The Incredible Panda said:

This actually matches my interpretation of the events.  I was thinking most of the truly supernatural stuff was an interpretation.

I could easily write off most of the supernatural stuff as in their minds, up until Peter sees Annie suspended in mid air stabbing her neck repeatedly.

 

In my opinion perhaps the most chilling part of the movie for me, is Peter sobbing in the attic calling to his mom, hearing her banging like mad to get in, and that quick cut to her slamming her head at that speed. That's still vivid in my mind, and it's been nearly a week since I saw the movie.

[afalconer7]

One of the most unsettling and disturbing movies I’ve ever seen. Everything in the film was there for a reason, and there were no shock value moments for the sake of shock value. Possibly my favorite film of the year so far.

[Webslinger]

Count me in the "loved it" camp.

 

Hereditary is a scary film, no doubt; but while its ephemeral scares are effective enough in their own right, its most potent horror lies in its implications about one generation’s potential to destroy another, whether intentionally or not. It’s a tense, eerie experience throughout, and it makes excellent use of provocative, disturbing imagery (particularly a motif that begins with a bird’s head) and expertly-deployed sound design (I never thought glottal clicks could sound so freaky). Its relatively few instances of violence are genuinely unnerving and linger in the memory long after they pass, and the filmmakers use them so sparingly in the first two acts that the nutty events of the third act feel all the more disturbing. The ending is bizarre enough that it will divide audiences, but it feels like a near-perfect conclusion to the horror the grandmother wrought upon her unwitting daughter and grandchildren before her passing prior to the beginning of the film. No stranger to bringing stinging humanity to a supernatural story, Toni Collette delivers searing work in the lead role. She feels entirely believable as someone with a history of detachment (hence the meticulous re-creations of trauma through her miniatures and dollhouses) and pent-up resentment, and she nails a devastating monologue that lays her grief and anger bare. There’s no way Collette will score an Oscar nomination for a small genre film released in the summer, but she deserves to be in the conversation. Alex Wolff is also terrific as her son, who never seems to know how to process the strange events occurring around him; this uncertainty allows his character’s experiences as the film progresses to feel all the more horrifying. And while creepy children feel like a tired cliché of the genre, young actress Milly Shapiro’s is exceptional in her startling low-key creepiness. Hereditary won’t please viewers who expect a more conventional horror film, but for those willing to embrace its approach, it’s unsettling enough to stick in the memory for quite some time after the lights come up.

 

A-

[YLF]

Not scary, but a surprisingly good movie. I enjoyed it. B+

[Goffe]

Kinda loses me when it becomes just another demonic possession horror film. Agree with folks saying it lacks focus to drive themes home and that the climax happens earlier than supposed to. Technically excuted with precision, but eh.

Toni Colette is BAD in big, dramatic scenes, but that somehow adds to the movie?

 

7/10

Edited July 1, 2018 by Goffe

[Goffe]

On 6/9/2018 at 8:00 PM, Jake Gittes said:

It is logical and realistic. Again, he's a stoned immature teenager whose little sister just died in a horrific accident partially because of him. He is NOT prepared for the weight of that shit. He is NOT gonna behave like a calm, rational human being. Do you realize just what kind of an effect something like that can have on your mental state? It'd fuck you up for the rest of your life. It's almost as if the movie communicates that to you when it spends a full minute or two on a close-up of his face as he is very obviously failing to deal with what just happened.

I mean, even if he wasnt a “stoned immature teenager” that would still be an acceptable reaction. Like Fanboy said, no one can really know for sure how they would react to such traumatic situation until they are in it.

[Jake Gittes]

23 minutes ago, Goffe said:

I mean, even if he wasnt a “stoned immature teenager” that would still be an acceptable reaction. Like Fanboy said, no one can really know for sure how they would react to such traumatic situation until they are in it.

Yeah. One reason his reaction hit me as hard as it did is that I could imagine myself as a teenager doing the same things he did post-accident. I probably would've been too anxious to leave my little sister unsupervised at a party like that, but still... who really knows. 

 

1 hour ago, Goffe said:

Toni Colette is BAD in big, dramatic scenes

You were doing so well there... but you just HAD to... be you, didn't you? 

[dxmatrixdt]

I liked it a lot, I thought it was clever, but it is just missing the A- for being a bad movie.

Will try to edit in more throughout the late nights.

 

89 - B+

[Goffe]

On 7/1/2018 at 12:19 PM, Jake Gittes said:

Yeah. One reason his reaction hit me as hard as it did is that I could imagine myself as a teenager doing the same things he did post-accident. I probably would've been too anxious to leave my little sister unsupervised at a party like that, but still... who really knows. 

 

You were doing so well there... but you just HAD to... be you, didn't you? 

I'm... I'm sorry?

[The Stingray]

Finally saw this. I thought it was phenomenal. Some incredibly tense and creepy moments in there (the decapitation of Charlie, Annie hiding in the corner above the kid's bed and then "floats" away, Annie chopping off her own head etc). Some shots seem a bit show off-y, but mostly it's a really well-shot and well-edited movie. The story is intriguing and the performances are excellent across the board.

One of the best horror films of the decade and a modern classic. If you don't like this, you probably don't like good horror movies.

9.5/10
 

[cheesypoofs]

I just finished this. I mostly liked it. Was creepy and had a creepy vibe to it. My biggest complaint is the ending. Idk what I was expecting for the end, but if certainly wasn't that. I felt underwhelmed by the end. But overall I thought it was a good movie. I'm gonna have to sleep on it and maybe even watch it again sometime to see how I grade this, but I currently give it a B/B+. Probably would've given it a B+/A- but I just don't know about that ending. Like I said though, I'm gonna have to sleep on it and probably watch it again sometime.

[SLAM!]

This is my first review on the sight, so please bare with me. My university screened this film, and I think it's something that I want to talk about.

 

I'm not one to watch horror most of the time. As a movie watcher, I've become pretty hardened, like iron sharpening iron, by the films that I've been watching in film studies. I have a deep understanding that what's on the screen is fake, and that's why I was able to get through the recent films Get Out and It (2017) when they appeared on HBO.

 

This film is a whole other thing. If it were a ski slope, it'd be a double black diamond. It's a slow burn, but that ends up being a great decision, as the film is shocking and suspenseful right up to the point where the credits roll.

 

As a Christian, the film scared me straight. It reminded me of the Bible's frequent mention of spiritual warfare, and it inspired me to strengthen my walk with Christ and be an influence in other people's lives, because there may come a day when it's too late for me to be of any help. When I was walking back to my dorm after the movie, talking to myself about my own relationship with Jesus is what helped calm me down after experiencing such a harrowing cinematic experience -- if the film hadn't been effective at all, like The Predator, then I wouldn't have felt the need to do that, you know?

 

I'm also really thankful that I'm in a family that can work through the bad times, a family that is capable of solving problems with maturity. Families shouldn't be turning towards dark arts for a healing process like Annie does in the film. They should be getting back together the healthy way by acknowledging mistakes and apologizing. I'm so glad I've grown as a person over the years, because I think I would've reacted in some of the same ways Peter was reacting to his own mistake. The way Peter wept when confronted with the scary things that happen conveyed that he was a character that hadn't truly grown up yet. I don't want to be a coward like that, you know? I want to be someone who is courageous, someone who helps other people, who leads other people.

 

As for the film technical aspects, I must commend Ari Aster on all fronts. The creepy sound design provided scares on its own, the eerie progressive rock score kept the pulse going, the lighting reminded me of the expressionism I've seen in screenshots of Suspiria, the production design was, to put it simply, AWESOME.

 

And both Toni Colette and Alex Wolff deserve Oscar nominations. They'll end up coming short, I'm sure, but their acting jobs were outstanding, to put it simply.

 

This is one of the best films of 2018 that I've seen so far. This is film is not for the faint of heart, however. I will repeat myself: in ski slope terms, this is double black diamond terrifying horror, the type that sticks with you long after the credits roll.

 

I give it an A+.

 

And please wish me luck that I don't have a nightmare tonight.

[Blankments]

Hereditary is just a really stupid movie. None of the characters are remotely likable besides Steve, and that is necessary to make an interesting narrative. Aster’s direction is fine for a debut but misses several easy decisions that would make it a better film. Collette and Wolff give excellent performances but the former’s character is so repulsive that it really doesn’t feel like anything. None of it comes together except when it’s examining grief rather than the paranormal. There is a 20-minute segment in the middle of the movie that is good because of this, but as soon as it switches back to the horror genre, it’s totally lost again. Hereditary is yet another indie horror movie that is overhyped and features a lot of style with absolutely no substance. A massive disappointment. D+

[Flopped]

Rewatched for the first time since 2018 and was surprised by how well it holds up. 

[Morieris]

I saw this for the first time on a random summer afternoon last year. I knew parts of the story already (mainly the catalyst), but not the rest.

 

So there was a lot of indifference for the first half that ended up being sheer fear in the last 35 minutes. I feel Aster is like Peele; There's a lot of layers and subtle cues that make their stories work together as a whole. Is it filmlovers tying unintentional strings together? Possibly.

 

I'd go deeper, but I don't remember much besides being completely terrified - the performances sell it more than anything else - and I'm not watching it again.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Morieris