This family is uniquely unhappy. 65+%

Rating: 7/10 (28 June 2018)

Having heard good things about this film on Australian ABC radio (across multiple programmes or segments), I thought I'd watch this. Since I don't really watch commercial TV, I haven't seen any ads for this film, so I'll keep my description of what happens rather vague, so as to not to divulge any spoilers for you.
The plot involves the aftermath of the death of the mother of Annie Graham (Toni Collette). As Annie says in her eulogy at the funeral service for her mum, Ellen was a "secretive" woman. There are a lot of interesting titbits about Ellen for the rest of the film, as well as for Annie's fraught relationship with her own family (husband Steve, played by Gabriel Byrne, nearly adult teenage son Peter, played by Alex Wolff and their 13-year-old daughter Charlie, played by Milly Shapiro).
There are hints of the supernatural in this film and it made me wonder how the rest of the film would unspool...would it be a supernatural horror film or psychological thriller? In either case, the film chooses to reach its conclusion at a funereal pace, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but may not appeal to those who cleave to the fast and easy thrills of Hollywood fare. Some films which "Hereditary" brought to mind in terms of pace, characterisation or visuals included "Rosemary's baby", "Pan's labyrinth" and the rather good if obscure Australian film "Summerfield". The first and the last film could be considered good companion pieces to "Hereditary", although I wasn't that keen on "Rosemary's baby" but did quite like "Summerfield". Those other films aren't fresh in my memory and I don't mean to suggest that they are very similar to "Hereditary"...I just find that there's a certain "family resemblance" to them...cousins, so to speak. If you don't mind films which unfold at a measured pace, there is value in viewing each of them. Oh...just remembered...the original "The wicker man" is worth mentioning as a "cousin" of these films.
That being said, there are a couple of gruesome scenes in "Hereditary", so the film isn't devoid of some shock value for the unwary. It should also be noted that there is some artifice in "Hereditary". For instance, the Graham family is introduced to us via a cinematic device, which did make me wonder what implications that had for what we were about to see. Similarly, there is a scene with a very odd camera angle when showing Annie in a hallway. Maybe you could view that cinematic device as "Hitchcockian"...and maybe you could also say that it alluded to a later scene with Annie at her home.
I also liked the narrative titbits in this film which made me wish that I could rewind the film at the cinema to listen again to some comment or to pause a scene so that I could try and recognise certain symbols or strange objects. Speaking of which, there is also a novel visual cinematic device in this film to bring to the viewer's attention something uncanny occurring.
No spoiler here, but as for the ending, my initial impression was that it had a mystifying conviction, which, in retrospect, I no longer think is accurate. Tongue-in-cheek, you could perhaps say that the ending of the film follows naturally on from the mystifying psychedelic end-sequence of "2001: A space odyssey".
Not really a criticism, but I did wonder how the events of the film all cohered to bring you the resolution that is revealed. Were the events leading up to it inevitable? I.e. was the fate of the key character at the end of the film "ordained" from the outset, so to speak? This kind of question is what made "Summerfield" such a good film, in my view (I've reviewed that title here, as I have "Rosemary's baby" and "Pan's labyrinth" (which I see that I gave a score of 10/10 to. "Summerfield" got 8/10 from me and "Rosemary's baby" got 6/10 from me).
Still on the ending...I'm wondering how scary that outcome was, considering the domestic nature of much of the preceding drama. I would tend to think that maybe the resolution wasn't as scary at it was (perhaps) intended to be, assuming the ending was intended to be interpreted literally...which it may or may not have been, in any case!
Random observations:
* The actors playing the children aren't your typical Hollywood film teenagers, visually. Peter didn't even seem to have a family resemblance to Annie and Steve, in which case the casting is a bit odd in that respect...or is it? I dunno!
* Maybe there could have been a bit more chills immediately following the wake for Annie's mum, relating to her, before the themes of Annie's loss and grief unspool.
* What was that stuff about the black dots or whatever it was which Annie had on her finger? Or the bit where she touches her mum's corpse at the wake? Hmm.
* On one film review segment on ABC local radio the reviewer did mention that he thought that Toni Collette could (would?) win an Academy Award for her performance. Toni Collette does get to display scenes of extreme grief, so that may catch the eye of the voters, perhaps.
* An interesting reaction from Peter following a shocking event. In a way it was unbelievable and in another way, it was entirely believable.
P.S. I'm a big fan of "The exorcist", which is another film which does a great job in building tension and not rushing into its shocks. 10/10 from me and also reviewed at this site by me.
P.P.S. ...and now I'm wondering how the film's title fits into its meaning...