Movies: Hereditary (2018)
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#Norris4Fox
Well critically it may be a minority, but I don’t think this was popular with audiences at all. Understandably.
I enjoy Gabriel Byrne enough to consider myself biased, but I really appreciated this look into mental illness, trauma, and grief. Albeit sometimes extreme.
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Trap Jesus
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- Feb 13, 2012
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Man, I loved this. I 100% get why some people won't like it, and it will either be because they can't take how slow it is at points or, more commonly, they just straight up do not like the direction it goes in in the last act and particularly the end.
As someone who really looks forward to horror movies that aren't just your typical run-of-the-mill jump-scare fests, I thought this combined all of the best elements of those recent "critically acclaimed" horror movies that everyone always hypes up. You get that character drama that you get in The Babadook, you get that slow-burn building tension and dread from The Witch, you get that craftsmanship which lets you view things in a different lens on multiple viewings like Get Out, and you get all of the technical aspects of interesting shots/sound design/score like in It Follows. That's not to say that all of those aspects were necessarily executed as well as they were in those films, but considering it brings you all of those things, it's a pretty impressive feat.
Tonally, it had that sense of being uneasy, unsettling and surreal that reminded me of a throwback to something like Rosemary's Baby, and I also thought it did an excellent job at subverting expectations. It's by no means something like You're Next or something where they're looking to deconstruct the genre, but it throws things at you that are genuinely unexpected.
This also blends more of an arthouse feel with things you'd expect from a mainstream horror movie. While I think this movie is similar to The Witch in a lot of ways, that movie had next to nothing in it that would cater to an audience that is looking to see the next Sinister movie, or something like that. There aren't many jump scares per se in Hereditary, but there's still a ton of frightening imagery that will startle a lot of people.
What I liked:
Things that didn't work for me:
As someone who really looks forward to horror movies that aren't just your typical run-of-the-mill jump-scare fests, I thought this combined all of the best elements of those recent "critically acclaimed" horror movies that everyone always hypes up. You get that character drama that you get in The Babadook, you get that slow-burn building tension and dread from The Witch, you get that craftsmanship which lets you view things in a different lens on multiple viewings like Get Out, and you get all of the technical aspects of interesting shots/sound design/score like in It Follows. That's not to say that all of those aspects were necessarily executed as well as they were in those films, but considering it brings you all of those things, it's a pretty impressive feat.
Tonally, it had that sense of being uneasy, unsettling and surreal that reminded me of a throwback to something like Rosemary's Baby, and I also thought it did an excellent job at subverting expectations. It's by no means something like You're Next or something where they're looking to deconstruct the genre, but it throws things at you that are genuinely unexpected.
This also blends more of an arthouse feel with things you'd expect from a mainstream horror movie. While I think this movie is similar to The Witch in a lot of ways, that movie had next to nothing in it that would cater to an audience that is looking to see the next Sinister movie, or something like that. There aren't many jump scares per se in Hereditary, but there's still a ton of frightening imagery that will startle a lot of people.
What I liked:
- The daughter's death was so unbelievably effective in its execution, one of the best sequences I've seen in a long time. Just the death in itself is interesting as it subverts almost everyone's expectations of her being the focal point of the movie, but focusing just on the Peter character's reaction to it was such a fantastic way to do it.
- It's always nice to have an opening shot that draws you in immediately, although I wish they didn't show that off in the trailer. The trailer did A LOT right, but I think it would have been better if they saved that transition for the movie itself. Regardless, it's a shot that shows off what to expect from a technical angle, sets an eerie tone for the rest of the movie, and serves a nice metaphorical function that isn't too obvious right off the bat.
- I loved that it never felt like there was a "safe haven" in this movie. I look at something like A Quiet Place, and it's just so painfully obvious when the scary moments are going to be, along with when the "down moments" are going to be where it's just about character development, etc.
This movie had me thinking things like, "Oh shit, he's in a brightly lit classroom surrounded by people" or "Oh shit, he's eating lunch on a picnic table on a sunny day with people playing all around him". I think to do that without having any reliance on jump scares is just fantastic. This isn't a Conjuring thing where they just lure you into a false sense of security by having a bunch of people talking in a brightly lit room and you think it's just a basic exposition scene, only to throw in a scary face and loud noise to startle you. It's about building tension and a sense of dread that you shouldn't expect the characters to be safe just because things don't look inherently ominous.
You still get the walking down a dark and creepy hallway scenes, but they subvert your expectations enough in those where they keep it interesting. Even something like the kid waking up and looking over at the chair, which would seem to be your classic "red herring" scare, is executed in a way that isn't just playing you for a cheap scare. There's no crazy camera manipulation or loud noises to throw you off, it kind of just shows you the chair and lets you throw yourself off by imagining something that isn't really there.
- Annie saying really cruel shit to her son. There was just something about the way she said things and the dialogue that hit REALLY hard. She's not just spewing vile things at him; they give her some humanity there where she's saying things like "I know it's difficult for you as well" during the dinner scene, or covering up her mouth after she said she "never wanted him" in the shared dream sequence. There's obviously some reliance on the vulgarity and yelling, but the writing was really on point.
- The whole Peter waking up part all the way up to the point where he closes the attic door felt like the most mainstream horror part of the movie to me, but I still love the way it was executed.
It's not like we haven't seen "crazy demon lady crawling on walls" a million times before, but I think when you put it into context of it being such a slow burn of a movie, and not really seeing anything like that for the rest of the movie, it makes it a lot more effective. Just the way she came in at first did such a good job at setting the tone for that scene. It added such a surreal element to it. You're not really thinking "Ah! Scary lady climbing on walls!" You're more thinking, "What in the actual f*** was that? Was she crawling through the air?" It's just weird in a good way, and gives it that extra flair of being even more unsettling.
I really liked her being in the background on the roof when it wasn't completely obvious (although still fairly obvious), but I wish they didn't do that change in focus and make it completely obvious to the point where it was the focal point of the shot. Her just being in the background out of focus was more than enough.
And then you get maybe the only true jump scare in the movie with her running out of the corner. You get all those clicking noises and some fairly quick shots that are semi-startling at other points, but this is the only one I can remember that had the prototypical long drawn out silence/creepy atmosphere and then hits you with a sudden jolt. I'll have to rewatch it to see if they added a sound effect, because I'm not sure if they did. I'm completely fine with that though. It was kind of like Black Philip charging the guy out of nowhere in The Witch. You get a movie with next to no reliance on startling you with jump scares, and then it hits you with a big one near the end.
The head banging at the end of that sequence was awesome as well, although another thing that could have been held back in the trailer.
- And then the best horror imagery in the entire movie, which is the floating/hanging saw part. If you're going to pick one thing from this movie and remember it as iconic, I think it has to be this. Sound design, imagery, everything was on point. Loved her blankly staring at him, how it sped up, and then also loved that they didn't feel the need to show the head actually coming off.
- It's always nice to have an opening shot that draws you in immediately, although I wish they didn't show that off in the trailer. The trailer did A LOT right, but I think it would have been better if they saved that transition for the movie itself. Regardless, it's a shot that shows off what to expect from a technical angle, sets an eerie tone for the rest of the movie, and serves a nice metaphorical function that isn't too obvious right off the bat.
- I loved that it never felt like there was a "safe haven" in this movie. I look at something like A Quiet Place, and it's just so painfully obvious when the scary moments are going to be, along with when the "down moments" are going to be where it's just about character development, etc.
This movie had me thinking things like, "Oh shit, he's in a brightly lit classroom surrounded by people" or "Oh shit, he's eating lunch on a picnic table on a sunny day with people playing all around him". I think to do that without having any reliance on jump scares is just fantastic. This isn't a Conjuring thing where they just lure you into a false sense of security by having a bunch of people talking in a brightly lit room and you think it's just a basic exposition scene, only to throw in a scary face and loud noise to startle you. It's about building tension and a sense of dread that you shouldn't expect the characters to be safe just because things don't look inherently ominous.
You still get the walking down a dark and creepy hallway scenes, but they subvert your expectations enough in those where they keep it interesting. Even something like the kid waking up and looking over at the chair, which would seem to be your classic "red herring" scare, is executed in a way that isn't just playing you for a cheap scare. There's no crazy camera manipulation or loud noises to throw you off, it kind of just shows you the chair and lets you throw yourself off by imagining something that isn't really there.
- Annie saying really cruel shit to her son. There was just something about the way she said things and the dialogue that hit REALLY hard. She's not just spewing vile things at him; they give her some humanity there where she's saying things like "I know it's difficult for you as well" during the dinner scene, or covering up her mouth after she said she "never wanted him" in the shared dream sequence. There's obviously some reliance on the vulgarity and yelling, but the writing was really on point.
- The whole Peter waking up part all the way up to the point where he closes the attic door felt like the most mainstream horror part of the movie to me, but I still love the way it was executed.
It's not like we haven't seen "crazy demon lady crawling on walls" a million times before, but I think when you put it into context of it being such a slow burn of a movie, and not really seeing anything like that for the rest of the movie, it makes it a lot more effective. Just the way she came in at first did such a good job at setting the tone for that scene. It added such a surreal element to it. You're not really thinking "Ah! Scary lady climbing on walls!" You're more thinking, "What in the actual f*** was that? Was she crawling through the air?" It's just weird in a good way, and gives it that extra flair of being even more unsettling.
I really liked her being in the background on the roof when it wasn't completely obvious (although still fairly obvious), but I wish they didn't do that change in focus and make it completely obvious to the point where it was the focal point of the shot. Her just being in the background out of focus was more than enough.
And then you get maybe the only true jump scare in the movie with her running out of the corner. You get all those clicking noises and some fairly quick shots that are semi-startling at other points, but this is the only one I can remember that had the prototypical long drawn out silence/creepy atmosphere and then hits you with a sudden jolt. I'll have to rewatch it to see if they added a sound effect, because I'm not sure if they did. I'm completely fine with that though. It was kind of like Black Philip charging the guy out of nowhere in The Witch. You get a movie with next to no reliance on startling you with jump scares, and then it hits you with a big one near the end.
The head banging at the end of that sequence was awesome as well, although another thing that could have been held back in the trailer.
- And then the best horror imagery in the entire movie, which is the floating/hanging saw part. If you're going to pick one thing from this movie and remember it as iconic, I think it has to be this. Sound design, imagery, everything was on point. Loved her blankly staring at him, how it sped up, and then also loved that they didn't feel the need to show the head actually coming off.
Things that didn't work for me:
- Byrne sucked in this. It's fine to have a character that is just kind of in the background as they aren't supposed to be the focus, but he legitimately brought nothing to the table. In the seance scene, his reactions were just bizarre. He had this one line of dialogue that was just so jarring to me when he said something like "What even language is that?" or something? Whatever it was just sounded bizarre, and it was just a weird bit of attempted humor thrown in that felt completely out of place. I thought that scene was easily the weakest scene in the movie, along with the scene where he burns. Both scenes just felt a bit off, and I think his performance was a HUGE reason for that.
Even in a good scene like the dinner table argument though, what function did he serve? He just made a couple weak attempts at mediating. I think he was underwritten, but he also just seemed off with how he acted the part as well.
- The very ending certainly felt off, even though there were a lot of elements about it that I liked. I like the idea of taking what seems to be a contained family drama or possession story and blowing it up into something much bigger, but it's hard not to think of a much lesser movie with how parts of that were executed. It kind of reminded me of something like Sinister, where they're spelling out the history of this demon with a lame name, when you can just let the visuals do it for you. I still think the ending worked overall, but it could definitely have been executed better.
- The way some of the backstory was handled just felt a bit heavy-handed. I think when she airs all her family's dirty laundry at the grief counselling meeting it worked fantastically on a comedic level while still not making a mockery of it, but they kind of do that again when she talks to Joan about her sleepwalking incident, and it felt more like, "Wait... what?" Didn't really work comedically if there was any intention behind that and felt a little bit sloppy.
- Just some small technical things that I felt could have been handled better. I mentioned her being on the roof earlier, but also something like Peter jumping out of the window. Felt like something you'd see in a buddy cop movie or something.
Even in a good scene like the dinner table argument though, what function did he serve? He just made a couple weak attempts at mediating. I think he was underwritten, but he also just seemed off with how he acted the part as well.
- The very ending certainly felt off, even though there were a lot of elements about it that I liked. I like the idea of taking what seems to be a contained family drama or possession story and blowing it up into something much bigger, but it's hard not to think of a much lesser movie with how parts of that were executed. It kind of reminded me of something like Sinister, where they're spelling out the history of this demon with a lame name, when you can just let the visuals do it for you. I still think the ending worked overall, but it could definitely have been executed better.
- The way some of the backstory was handled just felt a bit heavy-handed. I think when she airs all her family's dirty laundry at the grief counselling meeting it worked fantastically on a comedic level while still not making a mockery of it, but they kind of do that again when she talks to Joan about her sleepwalking incident, and it felt more like, "Wait... what?" Didn't really work comedically if there was any intention behind that and felt a little bit sloppy.
- Just some small technical things that I felt could have been handled better. I mentioned her being on the roof earlier, but also something like Peter jumping out of the window. Felt like something you'd see in a buddy cop movie or something.
Well said trap jesus, agree with most of what you said. Very well executed and disturbing film but I wasn't a big fan of the ending.
Trap Jesus
Registered User
- Feb 13, 2012
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I'm really torn on it. There's so much I like about it, but I think that dialogue thrown in just felt a bit cheesy and gave it a bit of a hokey effect. Just no need for it IMO. If you were following the movie, you understand exactly what happened without them telling you.
It's a shame because there was SO MUCH done right with the treehouse scene. First and foremost is the score for that scene, which I thought was perfect:
Such an eerily uplifting and ceremonious song to go along with all of the disturbing imagery and the gravity of the situation. You're getting the story from the perspective of Annie and Peter the whole time, and when they finally succumb to the evil, it's more just a feeling of acceptance than anything.
And then a lot of great imagery in there with the discolored, bloated and headless corpse of the grandmother bowing down, Charlie's head on the bizarre looking Paimon figure, the bird cage rattling around with the headless bird inside, etc. And a great closing shot of the treehouse which makes everything feel very artificial and surreal.
It's a shame because there was SO MUCH done right with the treehouse scene. First and foremost is the score for that scene, which I thought was perfect:
Such an eerily uplifting and ceremonious song to go along with all of the disturbing imagery and the gravity of the situation. You're getting the story from the perspective of Annie and Peter the whole time, and when they finally succumb to the evil, it's more just a feeling of acceptance than anything.
And then a lot of great imagery in there with the discolored, bloated and headless corpse of the grandmother bowing down, Charlie's head on the bizarre looking Paimon figure, the bird cage rattling around with the headless bird inside, etc. And a great closing shot of the treehouse which makes everything feel very artificial and surreal.
I think something a bit more like The Witch may have worked better, just something a bit more subtle.
The Witch's ending was perfect because it gave you just enough. Dialogue that was not as on the nose, nothing was completely spelled out as to what was happening, and VERY subtle imagery of who Black Philip actually was, while not copping out and giving you nothing at all.
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#Norris4Fox
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watching it finally and holy f*** alex wolff does such a good job in it after the accident.
like his expression and tone really comes across as someone who is basically dead inside compared to the first part of the movie
like his expression and tone really comes across as someone who is basically dead inside compared to the first part of the movie
Tkachuk4MVP
32 Years of Fail
Fantastic film, my gf and I had troubling sleeping that night. The ending doesn't quite work but I like that Aster swung for the fences.
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