Extremely overrated

Rating: 2/10 (29 June 2018)

I do think that seeing so many rave reviews for Hereditary raised my personal expectations because I walked out of the theater feeling perplexed as to how people could compare this film to the likes of The Shining or Suspiria and how so many people were genuinely disturbed by it. Hereditary definitely borrows a few elements from the aforementioned films but I myself wouldn't place it anywhere near the two classics.
The sound design is really the only redeeming factor I can think of in this film. While the soundtrack and sound bits aren't anything we've never heard of before, hearing the foreboding tunes and heavy ambient music did help in forcing the me into the right mood. The way they were used as accents to outline a "scary" scene was obviously a big focus for the filmmakers.
The cinematography was also good, especially for having so many indoor scenes. At a glance, the visuals make Hereditary seem like an art-house horror type of film, which it either isn't entirely or doesn't even know if it wants to be. The movie, as a whole, looks like it should be really good but in the context of style vs substance, there isn't enough substance to complement the style, in my opinion. There are already so many films with exceptional cinematography and this one is no standout in any way.
I wasn't a big fan the acting either; at best, I'd say it was serviceable for a horror. The scare factor in a lot of horror flicks can be predicated on the actors, by whether or not they can sell their performance in a crazy scene. In this regard, I think Toni Collette is the best part of the entire cast of Hereditary. On the flipside, I just couldn't take Alex Wolff seriously. There are times where his character has to portray some extreme emotions but I just couldn't connect with him. The way he would cry or whimper at times would really take me out of the moment and completely cut all the tension away from what was causing him to feel that way.
I've said "horror" many times throughout this review because my vocabulary and syntax could use some work and also because Hereditary is labeled as one. I know horror is another one of the subjective genres but I fail to see how anyone could walk away from this film feeling truly disturbed. There are really only a couple moments of disturbing imagery in the film but outside those instances, I never felt anxious or tense. That's not to say that I'm some macho man because I'm not, but there was even a few times during Hereditary where some people in my auditorium actually laughed. I'm not a horror aficionado but I don't think one such film that is stylized like Hereditary should be making the audience laugh. The fact that this movie isn't free of some of the usual horror film cliches doesn't help, either.
This is probably too long of a review from someone who isn't well versed in the horror genre but I just didn't enjoy Hereditary like everyone else did, and I'm not special for that. To the people who have watched already it, I personally think the last minute or so of the film should have been cut.