A Modern Horror Classic

Rating: 8/10 (12 September 2018)

Hereditary is deemed to be this generation's The Exorcist, and considering just how universally acclaimed William Friedkin's seminal 1973 horror classic still is, that's quite a billing.
But can Ari Aster's occultic fable live up to this considerable hype?
With the death of her mother, Annie (Toni Collette), observes some rather bizarre goings on within her family. What should have been a time of simple mourning proves to be anything but. Far from being laid to rest, Annie's mother's death is the catalyst for much upheaval within the family unit. Something, somehow is messing with the minds of Annie's nearest and dearest. But what, why, and to what ends?
Annie's peculiar introverted daughter, Charlie (Milly Shapiro) - she upon whose 'look' a million Chucky-esque dolls could be confidently manufactured and sold - had been the apple of her late Grandmother's eye; taken under her wing in fact. And it is Charlie who seems most affected by her passing. This most unnerving of children is afforded a relatively short amount of screen time, yet her impact upon Aster's film is both powerful and enduring.
To delve deep into the narrative of Aster's horror is to give far too much away, for this is a film not pieced together by way of a sequence of complicated plot twists and devices, but rather a film built upon one effective premise. A simple unnerving tale. A mysterious metaphorical encroaching fog of doom and helplessness which will, given time, engulf everyone in its path, to some degree or other.
The casting is excellent. Alex Wolff continues his impressive run of form, once again playing a quirky character with his portrayal of Charlie's stoner brother, Peter. Gabriel Byrne portrays the family's traditional patriarch and backbone, Steve, with predictable assurance, whilst Toni Collette's performance as Annie brings back memories of both Sissy Spacek in Carrie, and more pertinently Shelley Duvall's increasingly hysterical turn as Wendy, in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 classic, The Shining.
Littered with genuinely disturbing imagery and highly memorable set pieces, Hereditary conjures up the sort of bleak atmosphere fostered so effectively in Robert Eggers' solid 2015 offering, The Witch. Indeed, the theme of unseen occultic malevolence forms, to some extent at least, the central core of both of these films.
Resisting the temptation for cheap shocks and the needlessly overly-dramatic, Aster's film instead benefits greatly from taking an altogether more low-key approach - the consummate slow-burner - in which the sense of fear and enmity increases exponentially in both pace and intensity, leading to a truly bizarre conclusion which will act as the perfect barometer with which to measure exactly what a film's audience will have made of the preceding two hours or so. The sense of serenity that befalls Aster's film in its final chapter is somewhat unanticipated, and as truly peculiar as it is haunting.
One thing is overwhelmingly apparent though. This is a film that makes a damn good job of genuinely disturbing its audience throughout. And it's a safe bet that it will continue to do so for quite some time beyond that.
Hereditary is a film that will make you think, think again, and then rethink as it lingers like a bad dream in your mind. Furthermore, it will burrow itself effortlessly beneath your skin, heightening your senses, and feeding your primal fears in the process.
A sort of slow drip-feed of unease dispensed emphatically, deep into your very core.
A modern horror classic.