Someone in the Dark: Review of Hereditary

Hereditary

Director: Ari Aster

By Alex Watson

Every once in a while there comes a horror movie that is truly game-changing. In 2018, that movie Hereditary by first-time director Ari Aster. Coming across as a psychedelic mixture of  Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now and Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, Aster has created a rare beast. Throughout this picture is mind-jarring but also incredibly slick and clever too. Those of you who dare to see this will be processing what you have seen for days to come.

After the death of her estranged and troubled mother, miniature artist Annie Graham (Toni Collette) is trying to pick up the pieces. Soon after, she begins noticing some odd changes in her family, particularly with her daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) and her son Peter (Alex Wolff). After some other life-altering events, it becomes clear that something sinister is at play and that her mother's private life might have been something quite unholy.

Those of you looking for a formulaic horror movie with plenty of jump scares should look elsewhere. Hereditary is a much a smarter type of scary because Aster leaves it open his audience about how they want to be scared. This picture could have multiple meanings to decipher- is a commentary on mental illness? Is it a supernatural horror? Or is this a compelling look at the effects of grief? Part of the genius of this film is that Aster leaves things wide open. Annie is a woman picking up the pieces from a mother she excommunicated long before. When she tells the funeral gatherers that her mother was a private person with 'private rituals and private friends' we can sense immediately that something ungodly is lurking close by. What is so clever about Aster's film is how he dangles horror right before you, yet you don't notice it immediately. In some scene, we see Annie finishing up in her art studio and in the background you what appears to be a silhouette of her dead mother. You will notice it, your friend will jump but the reality only creeps in when you least expect it.

Aster never once gives his audience a break from the horrors and throughout he maintains a steady flow of unease. Each moment has something troubling close by, even in places where the characters should be safe. During scenes in the dark, our eyes will immediately scan the room and Aster does a great job of playing mind tricks on his audience.  There is also the notion of who exactly Annie can trust? Her husband Steven (Gabriel Byrne) is becoming progressively more concerned with her behaviour. Then along comes the amiable Joan (Ann Dowd) a seemingly friendly and sympathetic fellow grief sufferer. However, in Aster's world, she is immediately suspect and her intentions at first seem pleasant but why does she view Annie as a kindred spirit? The Graham family themselves are also not far from suspicion and as early on we learn that Annie's family has a history of severe mental illness. There are also some 'troubling' reveals about her history of sleepwalking too.

The impressive pulsing score by Colin Stetson is one of the key elements that make Hereditary such a unique experience. Literally sounding like doom itself, this sound makes you squirm uncomfortably. Aster along with DP  Pawel Pogorzelski do a resounding job of making the picture look the part. Little touches such as long swooping takes through the Graham household, to see a tree house lit by burning red lights give this movie its sickening horror. There is also the introduction of many of typical Hollywood horror staples late on. Demonic symbols are drawn, cults are introduced and we see a couple of very unsettling seances. Overall, Aster is very creative in finding ways to make sure his viewers need their hearts jumpstarted after the film's climax. There will be burning questions you need immediate answers to- sadly this will only be solved with time and multiple viewings.

Toni Collette gives a performance that is definitely the best of her career. Annie is a woman who is having problems thrown at her left, right and centre. Collette does a masterful job of showing a woman who is collapsing under the weight of this horrific activity. Frequently she is put to task during the pictures more emotional content, but Collette is more than equal to the challenge. Milly Shapiro is also a compelling supporting presence as the afflicted and social awkward Charlie. Through this performance is able to elicit both dread and sympathy in equal measure. A bizarre and strange looking child, Charlie is a young girl with some strange habits. Alex Wolff is also commendable as the pot smoking teen Peter. A young man on the precipice of adulthood, Wolff shows us a child who is also drowning under the weight of the emotional turmoil that Aster's movie summons up.

Hereditary is a movie that you will be discussing and obsessing over for some time after seeing it. Fair warning though, you may not be the same after viewing it!