No Jump Scares, I Want My Money Back!

Rating: 6/10 (14 June 2018)

Annie (Toni Collette) attends an open-casket funeral for her mother. Her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne), daughter Charlie, and son Peter try to support Annie during the grieving process. Absent and compartmentalizing her grief through her miniature dioramas, she joins a grief support group. At the support group, Annie vents her anxieties and family secrets which leads to supernatural occurrences and revelations about her mother.
The cast is the main asset in this film especially Toni Collette (although I had a rough time understanding why Annie blames herself for so many problems in the movie). Ari Asher's directorial debut establishes strong mood, tone, and atmosphere. The cinematography is minimalistic and naturalistic. The first thirty minutes are wonderfully unconventional and unnerving although not horrific. "Hereditary" accomplishes examining themes delving into grief and mental illness. After that it's difficult not to discuss spoilers, I'll try not to give too much away.
"Hereditary" suffers from being an antiplot (narrative uses unconventional plot points to tell story) script with very conventional plot elements. For instance (major spoilers), the first act ends with Charlie being decapitated, Annie looks for more solace at the therapy group which leads her to meet Joan who shows Annie a way to communicate with the dead, Annie communicates with dead, and all hell breaks lose. Pretty conventional story, right? Therefore, the filmmaker uses unconventional means to tell a simple story, which makes the pacing drag and the second act overlong. All this culminates into a disappointing third act. Additionally, the film is negative from beginning to end. It's not nihilistic or depressing, the film is simply tragic, hopeless, and anxiety-ridden. That's not a criticism, but the filmmaker needs to know when to apply breathing room into a narrative to subvert expectations and engage audience members.
Finally, try not to see this film during the weekends because many audience members laughed out loud during several moments. Teenagers ran up and down the aisle during scary moments. That's not to say I don't understand this behavior because "Hereditary" walks a fine line between comedy and horror, but the filmgoing experience irritates me when audiences demand jump scares or cheap thrills to stay in their seats. "Hereditary" manages to creep under the flesh and rattle the nerves, just don't expect the same expectations from everybody.