Cast: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Ann Dowd

Genre: Drama/Horror

You might like this movie if you enjoyed:
The Skeleton Key (2005)
The Conjuring (2013)
The Visit (2015)
Mother! (2017)

Long Story Short:

After grandma dies, the family is haunted by tragic and disturbing events, that will change the life of each family member. 

Review:

If Toni Collette is part of a movie, we should already know we are in for a treat. Ever since United States of Tara, she has been on my radar, and I have followed her career anxiously.

I am happy to say that she doesn’t disappoint this time either, she was even a producer of Hereditary.

The movie itself has a very slow beginning, the grandmother passes away, and everyone seems on edge and depressed, which pretty much stays the mood through the entire movie. Even the color treatment is very dark and sad. The first half is more of a drama, showing the family coping with their matriarch’s death.
The second half slowly starts to build up a story- and character development, which leads to a gruesome, and disturbing ending, that may not make much sense, unless one has stuck around and paid attention to some of the clues throughout the movie.

According  to some of the reviews I have read, I doubt people actually paid attention to the entire movie, since the lack of horror and the disturbing ending was often criticized.

While I have to admit that 2/3 of the movie are really lacking in horror elements the new generation may expect, I think the disturbing ending was needed to make up for the slow start, and I feel like it did. I enjoyed the subtlety and few old fashioned moments, that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, even without CGI or shock music, just by creating an unsettling atmosphere. However, the pace could have been a little faster.

The cinematography was breathtaking, and also made the movie so much better than it actually may have been without it.

The ending ties everything together, and even though I believe it could have resolved in many other interesting ways, this is the ending they have chosen, and I am okay with that.

One thing that really bothered me was the Gabriel Byrne’s role; he was such an annoying and weak character. Other than that don’t have much to criticize.

Unlike the movie Mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence, I would watch Hereditary again, since the ending was not as disturbing as in Mother!, and would allow me to actually find a few more hints that would explain the ending a little more.

Story Development: 5/10
Character Development: 5/10
Drama: 7/10
Cast: 9/10
Cinematography: 10/10
Horror: 6/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Ending: 7/10
Overall Impression: 7/10

My Rating:  7/10

Published by Elias

Biracial Kid, born in the late 80s. I write short stories, lyrics, books, I love Food, and I watch as many TV shows and movies as I can. My dream is to share my happiness and joy with the world... and to open a luxury hotel. View all posts by Elias