Evil Lives Here!

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By Tom Pacak

Before seeing “Hereditary,” I had no idea what the exact definition was. So before seeing the film, I decided to look it up. Hereditary is defined as, “(of a title, office, or right) conferred by or based on inheritance” and as “(of a characteristic or disease) determined by genetic factors and therefore able to be passed on from parents to their offspring or descendants.” I think the second definition fits the title. “Hereditary” the new horror film directed by newcomer Ari Aster, is a film about how people inherit evil and how it's passed down to the living. Sometimes this supernatural force is a calling to bridge back failed relationships or get unanswered questions from the past. What we don’t know is sometimes the ghosts of the past have far more sinister plans than you can imagine.

The film opens with a newspaper obituary; this sets up the film's powerful sense of foreboding. After this obituary, cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski zooms in on several mini antiques that Annie (Toni Collette) has created. These antiques are of Annie’s life and her care for her late mother.  Annie’s relationship with her mother is rather mysterious; in the eulogy, Annie describes how difficult her mother was and how she tried to keep her life a secret. Once you find out the mother’s past, you’ll see why she kept it a secret.

Annie’s family life has been far from perfect before this. She had a depressed father who starved himself to death, her schizophrenic brother killed himself, and even her mother suffered from a form of multiple personality disorder. It’s no coincidence that Annie didn’t feel sadder at the funeral. She has already experienced the worst. Even her disturbed daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) sees hallucinations of her dead mother in the fields. 

After being approached from a fellow member of her support group Joan (Ann Dowd) tells her she needs to communicate with her supernatural family. Feeling the need to connect, she decides to take her friend's advice and communicate. Her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) doesn’t believe her and the son Peter (Alex Wolff) is too scared to want to be involved. In this world, since you can't stop what has already been started, the family starts seeing weird events happen around them. The grave of Annie's mother has been vandalized and Charlie has an accident that sets Peter's state of trauma in motion. 

What makes this movie so scary is the script’s attention to details. You believe what you’re seeing on the screen is real but there might be a chance that this is all a case of mental illness. The performance that Toni Collette gives is one that I will be thinking about for a long time. It is clear that Annie is one that wants to move on from the supernatural forces but her fate is already sealed. Watching her go from kind-hearted in real life to evil in possession is something that plays with the mind. Like how Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for Best Actor in the horror film “Get Out,” I think the Oscars should leave room for a Best Actress nomination for Toni Collette. It’s her best performance to date!

And I will say, this movie scared the bejesus out of me! I saw this movie today at the 1 o’clock showing because work was slow. I was the only one in the theater seeing “Hereditary.” I knew exactly what I was getting into. I’ve never walked out of movie feeling whiplashed by the powerful emotions of being scared shitless and overall gory moments the film had. It also didn't help that it was extremely gloomy outside. There are several disturbing images in this film that I was not anticipating. I want to tell you more about the secrets of the film but it’s best to go in with a blind eye.

I don't know who taught or influenced director Ari Aster but it's unbelievable how good his first movie is.  It feels like he's been making these movies for years. If Aster keeps making movies like "Hereditary," he's going to have a great career. The perfect advice I can give you is if you don’t like horror movies, you should probably avoid it. If you love them, you’ll love it. I know for a fact the next time I prefer to watch it is with somebody at my side. 

Rating: 4 out of 4 stars 


Note: Now Playing in Theaters 

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