And so we come onto another horror film that despite what
the trailer might imply, isn’t really a hundred scares a minute as modern
audiences might expect, but instead goes for a slow, character-focused burn. Come
into this one with the right mindset and you’ll get some nice good
psychological creepiness with Ari Aster’s Hereditary. Is it worth the critical
raving? For the most part, yes… with one big caveat. But I’ll get to that.
Focusing on a well-to-do family that has recently suffered
the loss of their grandmother, we focus mainly on Toni Collette as Annie and
her son Peter, played by Alex Wolff. Both are pretty solid—the former
oscillates between ‘convincingly intense’ to ‘just a little overblown?’ but
right off the bat, the performances help sell the whole thing. Milly Shapiro
plays the younger daughter Charlie, who isn’t really the typical creepy child
you might think of with this sort of thing, but also helps to convey something
just about wrong with her. Gabriel Bryne plays husband and father Steve, who
doesn’t have that much presence but still anchors himself in fairly well as the
rational one in all this—or about as rational as one can get.
Some people have complained that the film starts slow—and while
there is a lot of focus initially on the day to day lives of the family and how
the tragedy has affected them, I rather liked that, helping you get drawn into
their struggle and helping the moments in the later acts hit all the more. There’s
still enough to suggest that there’s some sort of evil presence slowly making itself
felt, and that helps to get those chills creeping up your spine spiderlike slowly
but surely.
And then, about half an hour in, it hits you with a sudden,
unexpected moment that did get my eyes bulging out in the cinema. Let’s just
say, you’re going to be paying close attention after that.
After that, things begin to escalate, as Annie becomes more
unhinged, even if we know she’s right. Peter’s sanity also continues to erode—and
one nice touch is all the increasingly skewed camera angles and twisting pivots
of the framing that get more and more frequent. Even though what the plot is
actually about isn’t really revolutionary, it’s sold pretty damn well and you’ll
definitely be rooting for the main characters to find some way, any way, out of
the torment they’ve found themselves in. There’s also a motif of model doll
houses, and the film does take time to show off some well made designs that do
somehow fit the vibe it’s going for. Considering the opening shots, you also
might feel that this might tie into the overall plot it has. It doesn’t really.
Because, well…
Then the ending comes. Let’s just say the revelations gave
me a bit too much déjà vu to some certain other horror films, and it just felt sort
of…trite, considering the potential the setup had for itself. It’s aiming to be
something like Rosemary’s Baby for the modern age, and while for the most part
it succeeds, it did feel frustrating that after all that, it had to trip itself
at the final hurdle—at least for me.
But overall, I can’t let it detract from the otherwise
pretty solid direction. There’s an absolute bare minimum of annoying jump
scares and a focus on gradual buildup, which as I’ve mentioned is my standard
for horror. The Shining pulled it off by cranking up the madness at a certain
pace and never stopping the brakes, and while this one lets the pace undulate a
bit, I can’t say it didn’t draw me in. If a good psychological character focus
appeals to you, then definitely give this one a shot—just don’t expect it to be
as revolutionary as some are making it out to be.
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