549: Hereditary

[00:00:01] Let's get to Hereditary from 2018. It's written and directed by Ari Aster. Stars Toni Collette, Millie Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolfe.

[00:00:18] And the synopsis is, A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.

[00:00:25] This was and still remains, I think, one of A24's most successful movies, both critically, it has a huge fan base audience-wise,

[00:00:41] and I'd say it's easily one of the best horror films of the 2010s, really of the 21st century.

[00:00:49] I saw it in theaters, I've seen it three times or so, I think.

[00:00:57] Talking about films that deal with emotional pain, like true-to-life emotional pain,

[00:01:04] Hereditary has a top spot in that ranking.

[00:01:08] It is one of the most traumatizing movies I've ever seen.

[00:01:13] And more so in the fact that it presents all these things very effectively.

[00:01:18] Like, it's not beating you over the head with it, it doesn't feel put on, overly serious or melodramatic.

[00:01:25] The overarching story of this family whose grandmother has just died.

[00:01:31] The mom, played by Toni Collette, in one of her best roles.

[00:01:36] Like, she is incredible in this.

[00:01:38] So good.

[00:01:41] She's reeling from this death.

[00:01:44] The family is in mourning.

[00:01:47] The young daughter, who is kind of disturbed, starts acting out and becomes more and more withdrawn.

[00:01:56] So, one day the son, the older brother, goes to a party.

[00:02:01] The mom says, bring your sister with you.

[00:02:04] Things go terribly wrong.

[00:02:06] She dies.

[00:02:07] And then there's yet another loss that hurts the family even more, especially Toni Collette.

[00:02:15] The main idea I got from it that gets deeper and deeper and more interesting every time is a family or anyone being unable to escape the genetics of their family.

[00:02:31] Especially when it comes to mental disorders.

[00:02:34] Depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, whatever.

[00:02:38] It's presented in this like a curse.

[00:02:42] And these problems ripping through a family.

[00:02:46] Killing some, hurting others, permanently traumatizing them.

[00:02:52] As well as just dealing with grief, with loss.

[00:02:56] And the disconnect you can have from even your closest loved ones.

[00:03:00] Like for example, Toni Collette not being able to sleep.

[00:03:04] She starts sleeping in the tree house, in the car.

[00:03:07] She says she's going to the movies, but she's actually going to these grief support groups.

[00:03:15] So aside from the daughter dying, when you see the cut to shot of her decapitated head on the side of the road being eaten by ants.

[00:03:26] And then that call back later to Toni Collette seeing the sun with ants coming out of his mouth while he's sleeping.

[00:03:36] The dinner scene with Toni Collette truly exploding on her son and saying nobody takes responsibility.

[00:03:44] Because even though the brother was responsible for the death, he never even said sorry.

[00:03:51] He's just been this walking blank zombie.

[00:03:56] That shows you the talent of Toni Collette where she's so raw.

[00:04:01] Like I fully buy that she's a real mom yelling at her kids.

[00:04:05] She's had it.

[00:04:05] She's gone through so much in such a short time.

[00:04:10] The son's reaction is priceless.

[00:04:14] He's having to sit there while every possible remark and emotion and issue is laid on him, whether he's at fault or not.

[00:04:24] And then the father who throughout the entire movie is basically just having to sit there while people destroy each other and he's trying to help, but he can't really understand anyone or help them in the way that they need.

[00:04:40] And the signature tongue clicking by the daughter and that sound coming back and haunting the family later.

[00:04:48] And the third act, which things just go completely off the wire in a good way.

[00:04:57] When the son becomes possessed and raises his hand in class in that really creepy way and then slams his head repeatedly on the desk, flies backward and he's screaming with blood in his mouth.

[00:05:10] And even though this movie has no cheap shots at all.

[00:05:16] I think one of the best classic moments in horror of seeing something in the background thinking.

[00:05:24] Please turn around.

[00:05:25] There's something behind you.

[00:05:26] There's something behind you, that kind of thing.

[00:05:28] The shots of Toni Collette when she has become possessed and Alex Wolf wakes up and we see Toni Collette's silhouette in the top corner of the room.

[00:05:41] And she's completely still quiet, covered in shadow.

[00:05:45] And then she pops up again in the living room when he comes down and he's trying to find people within the house.

[00:05:54] Plus, on top of that, the only jump scare, I wouldn't even really call it that, but the shock moment of when she's standing in the corner and starts racing at him pretty much towards the screen.

[00:06:05] So it feels like she's racing at us.

[00:06:10] When he goes up to the attic and hears that sawing sound and it's Toni Collette beheading herself with a wire while she floats in the air.

[00:06:21] The burning of the husband, like throwing the book in the fireplace and he gets engulfed in flames immediately when Toni Collette thought that she was going to be the one to die.

[00:06:33] Anyway, the final sequence in the treehouse, that's not something I mind.

[00:06:42] I think it's something that it does go so far into the dark, mythical, fable world of hell.

[00:06:50] It's not long enough to really have you question everything.

[00:06:54] Like, I don't know the backstory of any of this or if any of these stories were actually written or anything like that.

[00:07:01] I'm just going off what Ari Aster wrote.

[00:07:03] But that look of the room with the beheaded bodies kneeling at the statue.

[00:07:13] The score is incredible during that sequence, but also throughout the entire film.

[00:07:21] If I had to point out anything at all issue wise, it's nearly a perfect film in my opinion.

[00:07:28] The last third or so when the family curse is being discovered and things are starting to unravel, it does occasionally feel a little long.

[00:07:42] I'm never uninterested.

[00:07:44] And I know that there are so many crazy moments that especially if I'm watching it with someone who hasn't seen it, I can't wait to get to those points.

[00:07:51] But for example, when Alex Wolf is walking through the house, stuff like that where you're just going into each room slowly looking around and the camera is very, very gradual with its movements.

[00:08:06] I could see that stuff being cut down a little bit to make it slightly quicker.

[00:08:12] But it's still so satisfying when it all comes together and just the horrifying but very affecting experience you've gone through.

[00:08:23] It's hard to be that upset with little minor problems.

[00:08:28] A couple last things, the sleepwalking sequences with Toni Collette when she walks into the son's room and they start arguing.

[00:08:38] And suddenly they're both covered in oil or paint thinner, something that she brought up earlier.

[00:08:45] And they both catch fire.

[00:08:49] The cutting off of the head of the bird by the daughter early on, and that's kind of foreshadowing, I think, in terms of what happens to her later.

[00:08:58] This was Ari Aster's first movie. That's insane.

[00:09:05] It's for sure one of the best directorial debuts of the last 10 or 20 years.

[00:09:14] That is a heavy five out of five.

[00:09:18] It's for sure one of her wonderful adventures.

[00:09:18] Beautiful.