What I Liked About Hereditary

When I first watched this movie I had no idea how polarizing it was. I have absolutely no idea how I missed the build up to this movie being wildly released. I didn’t know it was shown at Sundance...I didn’t know it was going to be widely released, and I didn’t know it was going to have so many shout outs to movies I already love. I guess I’m just bad at my job. Anyway, the general public, who tend to like the less intelligent horror films, did not like this movie until it got “popular”. Now, that doesn’t mean the movie is bad. Just like it does not mean that less intelligent horror movies are bad. Most of the time they are very fun. Hereditary was not fun. But, the movie was good. Not many movies have me rushing home to Google what everything meant, not many movies have me watching in the theaters three times, not many movies keep me up at night like Hereditary did. People have said they felt like they had to take a shower or go to church after seeing this movie. I personally felt like something was watching me....following me....plotting on me. While that yucky feeling did somewhat go away after subsequent viewings, I did spend a lot of time thinking about the movie. Especially the ending’s implications.
Currently, my most popular post is my summary of A Quiet Place. While I am very grateful that the post did well, I’m not particularly proud of it. I think that I should not have told the entire story. So, I’m going to talk about what I liked about Hereditary, hopefully without spoiling the movie.




1. Inspired by the 1970s.

The director was influenced by horror classics like Don’t Look Now, Carrie, and Rosemary’s Baby. There’s a fine line between influence in imitation. Ari Aster was able to show the impact of these movies had on him without being a cheap copy of the movies. I think a lot of modern horror knows jump scares are effective. But for me, it’s not the kind of thing that has a lasting impact on me. Like if I was ever to make a horror movie (😏) there would be very little jump scares. I do find jump scares to be very entertaining, but I’m not going to be thinking about them as much as like....Charlie’s freaky little tongue flicks that let us know that something was about to happen. This just might be my personal opinion. For example I don’t like those rides that put you up in the air and then drop you with no warning. But I do like certain roller coasters because you can see what’s coming ahead and you can work on getting scared. When I found out that Ari Aster was the director, I was a little unsure I wanted to see the movie because I’ve only seen one other thing by him. It was a short film called The Strange Thing About The Johnson’s. It’s not horror, but I was horrified and I’ll leave it at that.




2. Toni Colette‘s performance.
I was a hard campaigner for Bill Skarsgård to get nominated for best supporting actor for his breakthrough performance in IT. Not only because that’s my man’s, but because I want nothing more than for horror to be taken seriously at the Academy. I think that the accolades Get Out got is a step in the right direction. This year between A Quiet Place, Annihilation, Revenge, and now Hereditary… This year, somebody is getting an acting Oscar. And it better be Toni Collette. You know how people are like, “it’s an honor to even be nominated” ? Well, even if she was just nominated, it would be an honor. It’s been eight years since a woman won best actress for a horror film. And, a lot of people don’t consider Black Swan to be a horror movie. But, Toni Colette‘s performance was realistic and strangely beautiful in a truly bizarre and terrifying movie. She deserves GOAT status just like Kathy Bates (Misery), Jodie Foster (Silence Of The Lambs), Natalie Portman( Black Swan), and Ruth Gordon (Rosemary’s Baby). Maybe I feel so strongly because I’m also a mother. Maybe I feel so strongly because I think and fear my own mental illness is inherited (not from my mom). Maybe I anticipate not knowing how to feel my own mother dies. She’s not like, a cult leader..... But we’re not that close. But it’s most likely that Toni Collette’s performance made her worthy of the Oscar she was absolutely robbed of in 2000 (The Sixth Sense).


3. I had to watch it twice (and chose to watch it a third time).

Like I’ve already said, there are very few jump scares. Hereditary contain my favorite kind of scare, the kind of scare where you know something is coming, but the person in the movie does not. A lot of people thought that made the movie drag on, but I love drawn out dread. Maybe that’s why I procrastinate so much. 😂 Controlled anxiety is the only kind of good anxiety. For example the old naked dude in the corner like… Pero like… I debated sleeping with my lights on for a few days. I wanted to keep this mostly spoiler free because I did not want to deter you from seeing the movie. I am also debating if I want to make a post on the symbolism of the movie because it’s very heavy. However I wanted to share a gif from a part in the movie that made me want to rearrange my bedroom so my reflection is never in my peripheral vision. Out of context, I guess it’s just creepy. Maybe not a spoiler.

I really really really like this movie. I was actually so scared that I cried! That hasn’t happened since I saw Ju-On for the first time. I hope if you decide to see if you are obsessed with it as I am. I would say that Hereditary is a mix between It Comes At Night, Don’t Look Now, and The Exorcist. With just a touch of Rosemary’s Baby. The perfect recipe for a modern horror classic we’re going to be talking about for a long time.