The Loneliness of Loss

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2018)

It is quite rare that you get a horror film that is both scary and complex. One that takes a deep look into human emotions and then shifts it into a tense thrill ride. This rarity has arrived just this year. Its name: Hereditary.
This diamond in the rough film centers on the character of Annie (played by Toni Collette), a mother who finds it hard to cope with the loss of her mother and another family member. She is accompanied by her son Peter (played by Alex Wolff), a regular stoner teen, and his dad, Steve (played by Gabriel Byrne), who has trouble dealing with his wife's questionable behavior. From this, I cannot give too much away. I will say that this film is in fact quite scary, with many of its supernatural moments destined to get a scream out of audience members. I will also say that it includes many themes of loss all communicated with immense creativity, as it infests the story metaphorically in various different ways.
Starting off, one obvious pro of this film is its acting. It is incredibly life like, making all the supernatural moments all the more disturbing to sit through. Definitely the stand out in this film is that of Toni Collette. She goes through a wide variety of emotions, all of which to the greatest extreme, including depression, happiness, hopefulness, and insanity. Each is done with such precision, that it feels similar to watching a dancer pull off an incredibly complex dance, hitting each move perfectly. Another standoff performance would have to be that of Alex Wolff who plays Peter. From the beginning he does an exploratory job of manifesting the stoner teen, but it's when the film continues, and he is introduced to more and more of the horrors that this film has to offer, that he is allowed to truly shine. Alex himself has even stated in an interview for Goldderby, "I have never been this vulnerable; if someone touched me I would bleed.".
What compelled me most when it came to this film's scares was simply how unconventionally it dealt with it. For example: around Â¼ of the way into this film a character, while in a car, gets decapitated. While most R rated horror films from here would have its focus be the gore, how the body looks and how much blood there is, Hereditary instead focuses completely on the character driving the car. The camera lingers on his shock ridden face and his shaky hands, holding there for about a minute, simply letting the actor portray everything about the character in that moment. Not only is this scene scary, but it allows viewers to take a breath with the character and try to comprehend how this action will affect everyone for the rest of the film.
Yet another aspect that this film excels at is its visual style. The majority of the scenes inside the family's house is filmed from a distance, encompassing the entire room, and in the process engulfing the characters. This gives us a view as a spectator, making us feel as if they are dolls inside of a doll house. To me, this gives a whole new perspective of how the film should be viewed, giving off a paranoia that possibly we are not the only ones viewing it, that this is from the evil spirits point of view, viewing them all as inconsequential dolls that they have control over.
That is only one of many interpretations, which viewers will probably have many of. This is largely due to the fact that the film is very vague with what is actually going on, leading to more questions than it does answer. This works to the film's benefit for the most part, until the last 10 minutes of the film. It is at this point that I felt as if this film was jumping the gun, leading me to question what exactly was going on, and most likely prompting many viewers to look up "Hereditary ending explained" on Youtube.
I will end on a warning: for those movie-goers expecting a horror movie that dwells on its blood, gore, and exploitation, you may not enjoy this. For those movie-goers expecting an array of jump scares from scary demons, you may not enjoy this. And finally, for those expecting a clear, fully explained story that offers many answers, you may not enjoy this. For although this film may not be any of these things, it is instead patient, complex, and one that I feel will stay in the viewers minds for quite some time.