Hereditary (2018) - Review

This weekend's Hereditary is supernatural horror in the great tradition of Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist, but does it innovate and scare enough to enter that upper echelon of classic films?

In Hereditary, Toni Collette plays Annie, who is struggling with the death of her estranged mother. When Annie's daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) starts behaving strangely, the Graham family begins to uncover the secrets left behind by the grandmother, and what sinister implications they might have.

To begin, Hereditary is exceptionally cast. Collette is convincingly unhinged and deranged, as Annie struggles to cope with the death of her mother, as well as her own less-than-stellar parenting skills. Shapiro's film debut as the disturbed daughter is strong, delightfully creepy as only little girls can be (see The Shining). Alex Wolff's sweaty performance as the son Peter rounds out the trio of top performances, conveying the nervous fright and emotional distance the character feels. In a small horror film like this (shot on a budget of only $10 million), the cast is required to hook viewers and bring them on board for the often hokey stories, and I thought the cast of Hereditary executed that.

An interesting aspect of Hereditary is its use of miniature's, and how the camera work incorporates them. Annie by trade is a model maker, creating miniature's of her family and selling them, including some particularly disturbing scenes. While Annie plays with and manipulates these miniature versions of her family, metaphorically the matriarch Ellen manipulated the real versions of the Graham's to her demonic whims. The use of wide shots in certain scenes helps convey this metaphor further, leaving the audience to feel as if the real characters are in fact lifeless toys with no autonomy of their own, simply puppets for a higher beings machinations. The best horror films often include little nuggets that, upon re-watch, instantly connect as clues to the finale. Hereditary's use of miniatures is one such clue the film features that I'll be looking for on a second viewing.

The one weak link of Hereditary is that it's slow early on. While the mystery was engaging enough that I wanted to see it through to the end, I found myself checking my watch every now and again, waiting for the next big scare or interesting reveal. It's a problem of the genre, sacrificing the first half scares for the fast and furious ones at the end, and while I cannot entirely fault the film and director Ari Aster for it, it is a problem worth noting.

Hereditary is great counter-programming to the Hollywood blockbusters. Small scale and creepy with enough bold turns to keep you guessing, and a WTF-worthy ending, Hereditary is worth the FULL PRICE of admission!