A distrubingly melancholic mix of the grief & the supernatural

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2018)

Quite an unpredictable & unsettling tale of a seemingly dysfunctional family where almost every member become torn apart inside by tragedy after tragedy. And what begins as an emotional roller-coaster about a family tearing apart with grief, eventually descends into madness and the supernatural that demands careful attention to almost every scene & dialog from the very beginning.
In this remarkable debut feature, director Ari Aster keeps a wonderful balance between the elements of mainstream & art-house horror films through an unnerving experience till the end. The film had a lot to say about grief and trauma and the way it was put together & keeps a moving, yet an eerily melancholy tone all over is its strongest part. Particularly that heated arguments between the mother & the son at the dinner table was quite heart-wrenching and one of the most moving segments of the movie, IMO.
All four of the main cast shines in their respective roles, the highlight was the Oscar worthy, emotionally moving performance by Toni Collette. Throughout the movie, she expressed a fear of something shifting in her brain, beyond any control, inflecting her world with a terror, dread or uncertainty that she was unable to shape or contain or wake up from. One that just keeps unraveling and commands you to watch.
The two younger actors respectively delivered some strong performances as well where they convincingly embodied the horrific nature of certain moments, while those scenes were disturbingly underscored with a desperate sense of dread & helplessness.
Though this should definitely regard as a modern masterpiece of Horror but not sure whether or not it'll become a fan-favorite in coming days for its slow burn nature & thought provoking elements, as nowadays even masterpieces like THE BABADOOK or IT FOLLOWS often gets panned by the genre-fans.