Unsettlingly gripping, Hereditary is a perfect example of a horror movie done right.

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2018)

It's not the abrupt scares that should creep the audience out, but rather the concepts of the movie that should scare the audience. Hereditary does this perfectly. After a family's grandmother dies, the family, especially the mother begins to deal with many unsettling occurrences that may or may not be linked to said grandmother's death.
This is a very investing horror drama movie. It uses both genres really well, with the first half acting as the drama portion and the second half acting as the horror portion with sprinkles of horror elements in the beginning. It acts as slow build up to the movie's ending, and it's not quite prominent until the final fifteen minutes since it uses show, don't tell rather than mountains of exposition. The majority of the movie uses show don't tell very effectively in general. There are many quiet scenes that bring up many mysteries such as a light coming from the treehouse, which are very thought provoking.
In the beginning, the grandmother was stated to be very secretive and often kept things hidden from even her own daughter. This puts her in a suspicious light when we gradually find out about some of the actions that her family has been put through. I gotta admit, it's both interesting and unsettling as to how they unravel the mystery.
And yes this movie was unsettling, especially during the third act. I was on the edge by the final 30 minutes and was quite terrified by the actions performed against the family. Again, it's the concepts portrayed in the movie that scare me. There were little to no cheesy jumpscares; if the movie was filled with jumpscares, it'd get old, but thankfully there were none. There were moments where I was really uncomfortable in the theater because of what was happening. The acting was also really well done, especially from Alex Wolff, who plays the teenage son. As the main character, he was incredible. He was not just convincing in this role, but it felt like he lived and breathed the role as he ended up being the one who suffered the most throughout the movie.
I overall loved Hereditary, even though it's not something I see myself watching again. I loved the acting, the suspense, the shift in mood and the unsettling vibe of the movie. This movie, I think will please any true horror enthusiast.
10/10