Hereditary: A Must See Horror Film

I have always been one who gets pulled into the horror genre, either by choice or by force. Growing up with two older brothers I was always watching movies in this genre. I was started on movies like the original Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and other classics. While those movies were amazing, they basically had the same template, IE: The beginning is normal, happy and cheerful. The characters have little or no issues and obstacles. In the middle something changes that throws a wrench into everything. The rest of the movie usually consists of many jump scares, gore, or a bunch of teens running around trying not to get murdered. Sound familiar? Well, Hereditary is nothing like that…

The template for this movie is very different, which may be why I kept hearing about it. I either heard very good or very bad reviews, nothing in between. There were no medium or lukewarm opinions about this film, which is partly what drew me right to it. Hereditary is not your average horror film, or even average thriller. When the film begins, we see the camera zoom into a model house. Later we find out this is what Annie, the mother, does for a living and it becomes a sort of metaphor for many things that end up taking place. Annie, Toni Collette’s character, is ready for her mother’s funeral and waiting on the rest of the family to go.

Annie does not have a good relationship with her mother, actually it’s toxic as can be! The mother, whose funeral they are attending, is an absolute control freak who had many issues. She is described in the movie as basically being mentally ill, to a certain extent. Annie describes the difficult life her mother had during the eulogy. Although, the eulogy is anything but heartfelt. It is quite awkward to hear and to watch. During the funeral the son, Peter, and the daughter, Charlie, are sitting with their father who seems to be the only one feeling any real emotions about this situation. Peter is stone faced, seemingly ready to return home and Charlie is constantly eating sweets, oblivious to where she is. This time she’s devouring a chocolate bar, which seems inappropriate for a funeral!

It is important to mention that the only thing we ever see this girl eat in the movie are sweets, chocolate, candy, cake etc. This is clearly symbolism. Symbolism and metaphors are extremely present throughout the movie which is quite evident after watching and re-watching it. Even the title itself is not literal, it’s more of a metaphor for personal and familial demons that are passed down through generations. This is thoroughly explored throughout the movie, especially in regard to what the grandmother has passed on to her grandkids and children.

After the funeral the focus is on Charlie and her relationship with her mother. This relationship does not seem to be much better than Annie’s relationship with her mother. Charlie exhibits extremely bizarre behavior in the movie. She picks up and sort of dissects dead birds, she makes "toys" out of things that she finds (including the dead birds) and seems to have no self-awareness. During the movie she asks her mother who is going to take care of her now that her grandmother is gone. This question sets the tone for the remainder of the movie.

The movie is an uncomfortable family drama that turns into a horror film. Regardless of what you think or expect this movie to be, you are wrong! The commercial itself doesn’t even tell you much about the movie and if it does there will be spoilers. I implore you to freak yourself out and sit uncomfortably watching this two-hour long movie that will leave you feeling all types of uncomfortable! The acting is superb, and the story is very different.