Hereditary (2018) - A masterpiece in slow-burn horror

Most people have at least heard the film title Hereditary before or at least heard of its director Ari Aster (director of Midsommar and Beau is Afraid) and his masterful storytelling techniques. Hereditary was Ari Aster's big screen debut in 2018 with A24 producing the now cult-classic film. Hereditary is a masterful slow-burn horror film focused on the psychological aspects of familial relationships, cults, and the ideas surrounding grief.

This film has so many visual secrets and clues for the film's future and backstory but I would be here all day if we talked about each and every one of them so I'll only point out a few of my favorites and let you all find the rest! The first little secret I guess, is the film's title, Hereditary. Hereditary can refer to the themes of family we dissect in this film as well as the theme around this cult and curse of our main family. This curse tears everyone apart bit by bit first emotionally and then physically until there's nothing left of the family that once was.

This film begins with a funeral and ends with a birth or in other words, a rebirth of a king of hell, Paiman. This is a poetic narrative of the cult's agenda and the family is uses to complete the birth of Paiman into a young male's body.

Our cast of characters consists of the outstanding Toni Collette as Annie Graham, Alex Wolff as Peter Graham, Gabriel Byrne as Steve Graham, and the incredible Milly Shapiro as Charlie Graham. The Graham family is our main focus of the film and Annie is our main protagonist of the film but these characters are well developed and thought out that I'm not sure any of them can be considered a protagonist or antagonist but I'd see this story as more a predator and prey dynamic between the family and the cult. The grandmother of Peter and Charlie and Annie's mother, Ellen, was a part of this cult and made her own family the cult's main objective. Annie never connected with her mother in the traditional sense and so when she had Peter, she kept her mom far away from him but with her daughter, Annie let Ellen take care of Charlie to appease her and that's when the demon prince Paiman may have been first introduced to the family as he was put into Charlie. The thing about this film is, Charlie is not the desired host and so when Charlie tragically perishes in a car crash caused partially by Peter, it open up Peter and the rest of the family's minds to this sad and angry state that's a perfect breeding ground for fear, hate and perfect for the demons to creep into their minds and complete the cult's goals.

I reference this creator on YouTube a lot but he does some incredible work on deconstructing each detail, line and reference in these deep and well-thought out films, and that's Novum. I've mentioned his work in my posts on Midsommar and The VVitch and both of his video essays on those films are incredible as well as this one for Hereditary and I know I say it all the time, but I truly suggest checking out his content if you are interested in deep dives and learning about these topics and themes hidden in horror films and he also does some other stuff too but I can't emphasize his longer videos enough. They're amazing and one detail he points out in his breakdown for Hereditary is the color coding in the visuals and the details of each scene and what they mean. The examples he gives are in relation to Paiman and Ellen Leigh (Annie's mother). At Ellen's funeral in the beginning of the film, we see a photo of her wearing gold/yellow colors as Ellen began this curse in order to become a queen in hell and be rich in the afterlife, the yellow/gold colors representing the gold and money she'd have after her life was over. There's also a band of red behind ellen in this photogrpah at her funeral and she's wearing white pants and has white flowers around her as well. Novum mentions that typically in thematically critical color theories in films, red and white often symbolize life and death or birth, life, death, and rebirth which I thought was interesting to note in regards to Ellen's funeral photo since Ellen was born, hade a life, died, and then will be reborn in hell as a queen and made rich beyond all belief. Red also correlates typically with the activity of the cult in this film specifically as they are doing the sacrificing of the family members, causing issues and harm to them. There's a fourth color Novum mentions that's pretty important in the film and that's orange which represents Charlie. The first scene we see Charlie in the film, she's wearing an orange sweatshirt before the funeral and we often see her drawing in the color orange as well. Throughout the film we see a light flying around Charlie and Peter and this light is a blue-ish color that is meant to represent the spirit of the demon Paiman. So Blue in this film is attributed to Paiman being present in some way. Novum's video is about 4.5 hours long so I can't cover everything he discusses in that breakdown so you gotta go watch it for yourself (here).

This film is also just so psychological and non-scary traditionally until the final act. That's when we see people burning alive, heads getting chopped off of possessed people with piano wires, and the resurrection of a demon king of hell. This tone shift really created the idea that Hereditary may just be the scariest and impactful horror story we've had in years. I certainly agree that the first time I watched this film, I was freaked out for days and couldn't sleep but that's honestly part of the fun of these horror films is the lasting impact they have on your mind and imagination. This is one of two films that have ever made me terrified for days on end with the other being Evil Dead Rise (2023). Both films are some of my favorites to this day and still hold up on the scary factor no matter how many times I watch them. To me this is the mark of a great film regardless of genre. If it makes you feel something no matter how many times you watch it. For me, the non-horror film Little Women by Greta Gerwig makes me feel happy and sad every single time I watch it. I cry at the same parts every time and that to me is an impact that a film should have on audiences.

Hereditary will always mark a turning point in horror cinema in our modern age and I believe that it'll hold up wonderfully for decades if not centuries to come, and the re-watchability of the film is almost addicting with each detail and secret you find in each viewing! This was not a formal review of the film but moreso a brief overview of the secrets hidden in the scenes and subtle storytelling that director Ari Aster masterfully places in nearly all of his films. Even without a formal review as I typically write, I give Hereditay (2018) a 9/10.