A great quality watch but a bit overrated

Rating: 6/10 (13 June 2019)

After hearing much ravings about this one, I gave it a go. Unfortunately and as always, it doesn't live up to its hype (so never believe it). Awesome actors (Byrne and Collett were oustanding as always), though Alex Wollf delivers a very flat and dull performance. It fits his character but it does a disservice to the actor. Hereditary's main stand out point is it doesn't rely on cheap jumpscares to work, it knows how to build tension and mood in a mature and smart way, using slow shots and a truly remarkable soundtrack. However, the movie could have been 10 to 20mns shorter, I think it would have helped the rhythm, which feels kinda slow and dragging in some points. I also thought the ending was kind of underwhelming, you see it coming from three miles away (though the movie delivers what's expected, it doesn't "pretend" it's going to surprise you with a twist ending). Clues are peppered throughout the movie starting at the very beginning, but in my opinion they're way too obvious and literal...kinda feels like the director thinks you're a very thick person that doesn't get subtle clues. The other thing I disliked about the ending is that it's too explicit...I wish the director would have gone for a less "in your face" approach for the finale, and maintained a kind of "did this really happen?" vibe. As it is, I feel the ending (the 5 final minutes) is redundant and hammers in what has been established throughout the movie. Great film, solid horror movie, definitely worth a watch, but in my opinion the director lacks maturity and has a tendency to hammer in what should have been better left implied and suggested. It would have been a really great film if the director, talented as he his, wouldn't have treated the audience like 12 year olds that need explicit scenes to understand the underlying message. Really good horror movie, but not nearly as awesome as everyone says it is. This speaks volumes how low the public's standards have fallen, thanks to useless and exploitative garbage like paranormal activity, people now seeing a decent horror movie call it a masterpiece. It's good, but nowhere near the gem it's heralded as. And the director, although lacking in maturity, is definitely someone to watch out for. A good 6.5/10.