A true masterpiece - but viewers beware

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2020)

Hereditary (2018) is a work of newcomer director Ari Aster. During the movie though, Aster puts his best foot forward and delivers a strong, stunning, and most of all disturbing movie to the table. Hereditary revolves around a recovering Annie Graham (Toni Collette) grieving the death of her mother. She then begins to experience disturbances and visions of her mother's spirit, and as the number and intensity of the hauntings go up, Annie becomes more unhinged.
The story is original and the characters are deep. These two blend to create one of the most captivating movies the horror genre has seen. Each actor portrays their role to perfection but the stand out is Toni Collette's Annie. She delves down deep into the personality, struggles, and motivation of her character, making her so embedded in our world. Aster's style is so unique and just has a sort of ease while filming in a way most other directors do not. You would think he is a seasoned, veteran director but he is fresh out of the gate! What builds the creepy atmosphere is the sounds and music. It is timed flawlessly and fits the scene completely.
Although Hereditary is a mind-blowing movie, it should be avoided by all but the most bold viewers. This is a horror movie like no other and will chill you to the bone. This is one of the most unsettling, scary, and disturbing movies ever, if not the most, and although supernatural at times, Aster connects to our world on so many levels with the people in the movie, as well as the themes of the grief and loss, therefore blurring the line of fiction and reality ingeniously. I have seen my share of horror movies and none of them crawled under my skin quite like Hereditary. The subject matter is extremely upsetting and will linger within you long after the credits roll.
People will call this movie trash, and I believe this for 2 reasons: The people that only like dramas will find this film way too scary and disturbing to their liking. The main reason however is it is a slow burn. People want and need entertainment every second. They need that fast paced film with a jump scare frequently. They will not find that here and henceforth dismiss the movie entirely before the first half hour. This film draws so many parallels to Rosemary's Baby and The Exorcist and The Shining, all slow but very well done. However those came out in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, if this movie came out then it would have been hailed as the masterpiece it is. Now only half of the audience hails it that way. Real movie buffs will appreciate how brilliantly the story connects on every level imaginable and all of the subtle details and foreshadowing littered throughout the film. It has much replay value.
Almost every movie has many moments where you suspend your disbelief, and go with it even if it doesn't totally make sense. Hereditary has no such moments because with enough replays, there is an explanation for everything.
In conclusion, Hereditary will burrow into your head and wiggle around for a long time, but for people that can handle the subject matter and truly appreciate the art of cinema will find an intrusive, compelling, and utterly fantastic movie. It will blow you away.