[Review] Hereditary (7/10)

Title - Hereditary
Studio - A24
Starring - Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd
Writer - Ari Aster
Director - Ari Aster
Release - 8 June 2018

What you saw in the trailer was just a fraction of what this movie has to offer and coming from the first-time feature-length director Ari Aster, there are a lot of things to be impressed with.

But Aster had five great actors to mold here starting with Collette. She was the backbone that almost carried the whole movie. And how rare is it to reach new heights with your acting skills in a horror movie.

Same goes to Alex Wolff, but the only difference with him is that his career is very young and this is his highlight.

Byrne and Shapiro were equally great though their roles were slightly smaller. And Ann Dowd is always great in all that she does.

What Aster did fantastic here was creating the tension and scares without jump scares. The little elements he put in, like the clicking of the tongue by Shapiro; was the scariest thing. His scene setups are something to look out for, especially through his storytelling. One scene that should not even be scary but was because Aster set it up previously be just having the characters talk about paint thinner and a matchstick.

But for me the third act fell apart a little. As we witnessed Collette's character understanding everything that has happened, I as an audience was still trying hard to comprehend and that was the disconnect with the story. As she tried hard to convince Byrne's character, I was lost and could no longer follow what happened next.

That kind of snowballed towards the ending of the movie where I tried to accept the concept which was only introduced in that third act. Because before that, it had no inkling that it was going to be this kind of a movie.

That's why I feel like it needs a second viewing in order to really appreciate what Aster has created as a story. So unfortunately for now, I am struggling with the rating of the movie and hope to watch this again once the Bluray gets released.