Hereditary (2018) – Film Review
“The film threw us a curveball—retrospectively, I feel that the ads were a bit misleading, but, in falling for that, I enjoyed the many twists and turns a lot more.”If there’s one thing A24 knows, it’s how to build suspense. There are times—even here, in their latest joint—where it seems laid on a bit heavy, but it doesn’t mess of the pacing of the rest of the film.
Be mindful, though, that this isn’t your run-of-the-mill, teeny-aimed “horror” flick—it’s rated “R” for a reason, and earns that rating. Several times.
There aren’t any real jump-scares, which is always a plus. If you’ve been following me a while, you know that’s one of the things I hate above all other movie tropes. It’s really what draws the line between a horror movie and a horror film; just like any other trope, used too often, it becomes a headache—a throbbing, unconquerable headache. But, A24 have never been a fan of those—everything in Hereditary (like It Comes At Night, and The Witch before that), it’s a slow-burn, but with several explosive pay-offs.
There’s a séance scene, about half-way through the film, and I have to rave about it for a hot minute.
Caveat: I’m no stranger to the paranormal. Believe me or not, I don’t care, but I’m a believer in ghouls and the like—say what you will. But this scene stuck with me, still gives me chills. One of the side-characters is going on about what will most likely happen to one of the other characters (Toni Collette; The Sixth Sense, Little Miss Sunshine), but what happens on-screen was so well-done, and made me take in a lungful of air I’d no idea I had room for. I went through the rest of the film with bated breath—hands over my mouth, sweaty palms, my blood vessels distended in terror, an adrenalin rush that lasted well after the credits rolled. The filmmakers presented me with that cinema magic—what a film is supposed to do, get me reacting to what I see—and never let up. I experienced a totally different film than the buddy I went with, and that’s all due to my insight into the paranormal. Truly a wild ride.
The cast really rounds everything out, too. As I said, Toni Collette features and is amazing. About 80% of the film actually rides on her performance, and she doesn’t disappoint. Milly Shapiro, in her first big-screen role, is amazing as the troubled Charlie. A real shocking twist comes of her character—one that left my mouth agape for a good ten minutes… Alex Wolff (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Patriots Day) as the eldest, Peter, carries a good portion of the film, too, which I wasn’t expecting. He’s growing on me—clearly a versatile actor. Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects, End of Days) is strong-going, too, and acts as the skeptical grounder through all that happens. The patriarchal role he fills is equally matched by Collette’s increasingly-unhinged performance. The tension that builds within their family is terrifying, in itself, and speaks to the power that grief and loss can have over people.
The score is elegant. Booming or spine-tingling when called for, and soft and creepy, otherwise. Long-takes fill the two-hour-plus run-time, and are beautifully-rendered. I wonder how many takes some of these scenes took to get almost exactly right, 100%—something I’ll look forward to in the DVD commentary. The “scary” scenes are more about releasing pent-up tension in monstrous fashion than they are about creature effects or literal scares. This film got under my skin, and that’s why I admire it so much; A24 excels in what few horror movies do, these days: Horrify the audience. Where otherwise it’s all about the monster (not scary, when over-exposed) or jump-scares (boring, altogether), A24 weaves tension and never fails to pay it all off, often even multiple times.
I could make an analogy, here, but I don’t know what my viewership demographic is like. I’ll leave that bit of thinking to the adults…
Some questions I had aren’t answered by the end, and I’m okay with that—like I’ve said in multiple horror reviews, the more I see of the monster/apparition/entity, the less scary it becomes. The real horror is letting your mind paint the picture of what the “shape in the shadows” could be, as it knows how to scare you best. I worked out in my own head what some things meant, which gave me even more chills—just like It Comes At Night, where the “It” could mean any of about four things. Excellent.
Final ‘Risk Assessment: *****/. Another impressive piece of work on A24’s record.
The film threw us a curveball—retrospectively, I feel that the ads were a bit misleading, but, in falling for that, I enjoyed the many twists and turns a lot more.
Next review: Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Jun. 22nd)
