Over Hyped And Falsely Marketed

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2018)

The thing is, I was REALLY looking forward to this movie. I was hooked from the first time I saw the trailer. The marketing and editing of the trailer was brilliant. It made me feel as though this was the next big thing in Horror movies. I felt hyped to see this movie! I even made jokes to my fiancee that I was going to be holding onto her, all during the movie and not to tell anyone if I ended up screaming or crying too loudly. I did not scream. I did not cry. I mostly laughed. Oh Zod, how I laughed out loud at this movie! That's when it clicked in my head that I had been suckered in by Hereditary...
The problem with this movie, in my opinion, isn't that it's a bit slow in pace or tone; nor is it that the movie bait and switches the hell out of you---NO! The problem is that Hereditary believes its own hype; explains nothing and pats itself on the back for getting, to what equates to, a Participation Trophy! Listen, this movie isn't entirely bad or unwatchable---it has some great acting, scenes and ambiance---but it doesn't know what it wants to be. Honestly, it works better as a Drama, Suspense or Thriller but not as a half baked Horror film. Here are my thoughts on Hereditary; both good and bad:
The Good:
The acting in this film is very good (except for the dude who played the son) and believable. The mother gives very real reactions (mostly---she can over do it a bit) and you can feel her emotional exhaustion. The little girl who plays Charlie is very good in her role and I hope she continues to do other movies. She wasn't in the film for very long, but she did her best with what she had to work with. Most of the shots were used very well and added to the suspense. I even believe the director used a similar shot from The Shining in one scene. When Charlie dies, I felt horrible for the child. That was my emotional attachment to the movie. I was invested in the character and I was surprised when she was killed off, so early in the film. Regretfully, this is the end of the positive praises I have for Hereditary.
The Bad:
Oh Zod, where do I begin? I'll start with the obvious: THIS FILM HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GENETICS! Watching the trailer, you might believe that the film is about a little girl, possible mentally ill or with supernatural powers, due to her genetics (why else call the damn thing Hereditary?!), that is getting out of control or is in some kind of peril. Or something along those lines. What you REALLY get is a film that has ZERO to do with this child (who the film maker makes the focus of the trailer!), ZERO to do with genetics and all things hereditary and an ending so stupid, it gives Mother! a run for its money! The movie does address (very poorly and vaguely) that some mental illness does run in the family and that the mother has even (unintentionally) tried to kill her children but at the end of the day, it isn't needed or important because the Big Bad here is Zhuul or Satan or some Devil King (who, I swear to Zod, wears a cheap looking Jugghead Crown)!
I mean, imagine that for two hours, there's this guy who keeps talking about how he hates rice. This rice has done something to this poor guy, no doubt. Rice has to play into this story somehow! Then all of a sudden, the devil comes and kills him, puts on a stupid crown and leaves. The end. WHAT ABOUT THE DAMN RICE?! That's what this movie was. A bunch of talk and no good explanations. Speaking of which: Why? WHY?! That's all I could say after viewing this. Why did they make Little Charlie appear to be troubled, just to kill her off with no pay off? Why does the mom or any of the others in the family not know that Grandma is in a cult? Grandma was said to be this private woman but she literally leaves the mom nothing but Occult items! Why does the son cry like a cartoon baby? Why does the mom let a small teen go to a party with much older teens? Why does Charlie hide candy? Why does the dad go from being comforting to not having it overnight? Why was Charlie the grandma's favorite (assuming that she believed this was the Devil King) and not the actual MALE child? It's like she bent over backwards for this Devil King dude! In the end, there's just more questions; questions that lead to more questions and questions I never thought I'd ask. The bottom line to me is that people are going to walk out of the film thinking that the mentally ill are evil and are satanists and all that type of Stigma. I know it's true because I heard it myself! They used mental illness as the scapegoat for a cult movie. That's all Hereditary is: A movie about a grandma, who was a devil worshiper, who believed her deity was her granddaughter but wanted to be a boy, so somehow she kills her favorite grandchild so that her deity could then go inside her 2nd favorite one. Or something like that. It's STUPID!
6 out of 10 for effort...