What did I miss?

Rating: 4/10 (10 June 2018)

I'm all for a movie that leaves you wondering 'what the hell did I just watch?'; this movie had me asking that question in the worst way.
The reason this movie was such a disappointment for me was because I could see its potential: early on there are some truly harrowing scenes, gorgeous cinematography and compelling performances. However, the movie starts to fall apart in its second half: the filmmakers try to introduce elements that don't feel grounded or tied to anything else in the story, the scares are just silly, and even the performances are over the top and unbelievable. The audience I saw it with laughed the entire third act, myself included. It felt to me like someone in the writer's room would have an idea and they'd just throw it into the movie without bothering to explain why it matters. It was disjointed; it felt like a bunch of puzzle pieces that don't fit together. I know you can find videos 'explaining' the movie, and that there are connections that aren't evident on a first viewing; but Hereditary, in my opinion, didn't present a compelling enough story for me to *care* about those connections. Was really excited for this one, but apart from a couple great moments, it just fell flat for me.