An unnerving nightmare

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2019)

This was a doozy. One thing that you can tell right off the bat is that it feels like an Ari Aster film through and through. To be able to make your distinct voice/vision be apparent with just two films is really impressive, but he achieves it. He's a great director. He knows how to frame scenes, what to shoot, what to capture on camera, what kind of feeling to give. He's an incredibly visceral filmmaker and his strengths are captured here. I don't think this is as complete a picture as Hereditary (that was a near-masterful horror film) as I do think the biggest thing weighing this down is its runtime and sometimes a less clear focus. However, even with that said it's an incredibly impressive film. It's perhaps even less conventionally horror than Hereditary (and if audiences hated that, they will absolutely hate this. My audience hated it) but the entire journey and ride is one very much worth taking. By the end, it also feels very much like Hereditary in both content and style, with an ending that does leave you with the same feeling as Hereditary. Florence Pugh is really great here too. She commands the screen, and it's interesting to see her play this kind of role after Lady Macbeth where she has to give off a very different screen presence.