As a creepy, psychological thriller, “Hereditary” will make horror film enthusiasts enthused while putting the jump-scare, ‘slasher’ crowd to sleep. However, what makes “Hereditary” worthwhile is Toni Collette’s performance as Annie Graham, a complex character that challenges and champions Collette’s acting talents.
The film begins as Annie (Collette) and her family (husband, Steve (Gabriel Byrne); son, Peter (Alex Wolff) and daughter, Charlie (Milly Shapiro) attend Annie’s mother’s funeral. In eulogizing her mother, Annie is quick to acknowledge her mother’s stubbornness and alienation of others; we later learn Annie and her mother, Ellen, had been estranged for years before Annie came to care for her: Ellen’s mental deterioration from dementia forcing a familial reunion at Steve’s request. Burdened with an anger fueled by Ellen’s passing, Annie secretly attends a neighborhood grief counseling session and unloads her frustrated feelings. Sharing events in her upbringing that saw the passing of her father and brother at a young age, Annie also tells the group that Ellen’s death has burdened her with a guilt that Annie’s trying to wrap her head around. Joan (Ann Dowd), one of those assembled at the session, gives Annie her phone number should Annie need to reach out and talk to someone. After a series of odd events culminate in a tragic turn for the Graham family, Annie reaches out to Joan who, in working through her own grief, has found she’s an adroit medium who can contact her dead grandson via séance. After Joan shows Annie her skill, skeptical Annie becomes a believer. Trying to conjure spirits herself, Annie succeeds and brings something more sinister into the Graham household.
Of course, all I’ve just described is a bare-bones depiction of what’s in store in the first-half of “Hereditary.” What’s not described are the subtle clues and pieces of information first-time feature director Ari Aster slowly uses to weave a tapestry that becomes the carpet he plans to pull out from under his audience’s feet. There’s more at work that we will come to know, and that’s what makes Collette’s performance so effective. As Annie, Collette walks the fine line of unpredictability- is she causing the malevolence or is she merely the conduit? While she is seen crafting miniature set decorations in her chosen artistic career, the models themselves hold keys to an evil that has permeated events in her life. When Annie confides that she has battled bouts of sleepwalking and has had dreams of killing her own children, we aren’t sure what to make of Annie’s make-up. Collette masterfully handles the ambiguity in the emotions Annie manifests.
The true litmus test of whether you’ll enjoy “Hereditary” may be another film, also distributed by A24, entitled “The Witch” (reviewed in my Feb. 2016 archives). A similar creepy, psychological thriller, I likened “The Witch” to 1973’s “The Wicker Man”- movies with surprise shock endings in which the main character is either a victim of circumstance or the unwitting victim to an evil force. “Rosemary’s Baby” also holds sway with the story of a protagonist trying to piece together the puzzle before its jarring image-filled finale is formed. “Hereditary” belongs to this same scary psychological film genre.
“Hereditary” is the kind of horror movie that doesn’t come around often. For fans of slowly discovering the diabolical before the disturbing denouement, this is for you. For thrill-seekers who may find the pace plodding given the film’s meticulous clue-laden construction, have heart: with Collette as your companion, the journey feels justified.