Hereditary

It is Ellen Graham’s funeral. Her daughter Annie (Toni Collette) holds a speech in which she describes her mother as a difficult and secretive woman. As we soon come to understand, this was certainly not an exaggeration.

A series of deeply disturbing events begin to haunt the Grahams. The one who is the most strongly affected by the death of the matriarch is the youngest daughter, Charlie; an outsider in school, who spends most of her time constructing small figures from pieces of garbage and dead animals. When her older brother is forced to bring Charlie along to a school party, things take a gruesome turn which will completely change their lives.

Hereditary is a top quality horror film. Director Ari Aster presents a debut feature that not only points towards a promising career to come, but also shows a kind of confidence which is more often seen in filmmakers with much longer CVs. There is no insecurity or fumbling on display in this debut. Where Hereditary is the most successful is in building up the emotional nerve which substantiates the more classical horror elements. Aster takes his time, letting us get to know the characters – their grief, and their subsequent fear, is portrayed exceptionally well. Everything that they go through feels horribly real; and it does really get horrible. Toni Collette delivers an extraordinary performance, with some links to that of Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

If you were to combine The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby, and then add even more spiritualism, you would get something like Hereditary: the film that stunned Sundance earlier this year. Exceptional acting and a truly eerie atmosphere makes this a horror masterpiece!