Hereditary is indeed a refreshing newcomer, even though it is kind of a classic ghost story. It is quite slow at first but the plot is so interesting it really keeps you going.
The movie starts with the funeral of Ellen Leigh. She’s the mother of Annie Graham (Toni Collette) and grandmother of 16-year old Peter (Alex Wolff) and 13-year old Charlie (Milly Shapiro) . After the funeral this grieving family starts to have strange experiments around the house. At first it doesn’t seem to be anything special – just a little vision in the dark or a little noise from the shadows.
Then the family faces a huge tragedy and in the middle of the pain and misery Annie tries to find hope and relief from the group therapy. There she meets Joan, a lady who had lost a loved one too. She claims she has found the way to contact the spiritual world. At first Annie is really sceptical but of course she has to try it herself.
Then it really starts to happen. Visions are clearer and they spread like a wildfire around the family. What secrets did Ellen have?
At first the movie seems to be a really nice psychological thriller. Then it takes a couple of turns and becomes a classic ghost story with a twist. Until the end, which i think was the best part – surprising and chilling. Annie’s career as miniature sculptor artist and her work brings nice symbolism through the story, because she basically builds miniatures of her own life. And really, isn’t that the coolest job on planet Earth?
Acting was just on point. Toni Collette was just the right actress to portrait this mother who slowly but steady just loses it all. Gabriel Byrne is a patient father, Steve, who tries to take care of his family when they are facing the hard times. The kids, Milly Shapiro and Alex Wolff were amazing. It’s always nice to see new faces on the screen and these two were really promising. I really hope we’ll see more of their work in the future.
All in all Hereditary was really good ghost story. It had a little blood and a few good jumpscares if those are your thing, but I personally enjoyed the athmosphere that slowly turns into the nightmare. You think you know what’s going to happen but somehow it still manages to surprise you. There were some clichés through the movie but they didn’t bother me that much, because I feel it’s nearly impossible to make a horror movie with absolutely zero predictability nowadays.
I’d totally recommend Hereditary if you ever felt they don’t make good horror anymore.
