Hereditary

DON'T you swear at me, you little shit! Don't you EVER raise your voice at me! I am your mother! You understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face! So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed! Well, now your sister is dead! And I know you miss her and I know it was an accident and I know you're in pain and I wish could take that away for you. I WISH I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did, but you're sister is dead! She's gone forever! And what a waste... if it could've maybe brought us together, or something, if you could've just said "I'm sorry" or faced up to what happened, maybe then we could do something with this, but you can't take responsibility for anything! So, now I can't accept. And I can't forgive. Because... because NOBODY admits anything they've done!RATING:S+ First time I watched this, I liked it. I was sick and sleepy and still enjoyed it. Second time watching it and holy fuck, instant top 4. I fucking loved this. I have no idea where to even start. Two hours flew by like a breeze 'cause, holy shit. I had no idea what to write for some time. "Hereditary" is such a unique movie and one of the best horrors ever made, in my opinion. Toni Collette was a fucking beast in this, gave her best performance in this melodrama. Holy shit, I am so rewatching it. It's so dark, twisted, and disturbing, explores into such different topics and moments of a person's life, with everyone from Toni Collette to the dog delivering absolutely perfect performances, whether they were funny, serious, or a soul-shattering, breathtaking performance that will make you feel like you're slowly losing your breath. "Hereditary" is freaky, original, dark, twisted, and at the same time, kinda soft. It's heart-breaking, full of amazing visuals, great camera work, and so many little details that deserve yet another rewatch. I was shocked how much I think about this movie watching it a second time, even though I was sick the first time. Ari Aster really is messed up and so good at exploring grief, not that crying basic grief. Painfully realistic, blinding, and gut-wrenching grief. He put the family in such situations that, although it becomes supernatural at some point, is also so realistically written that it would make you think he went through it himself. The direction, the shooting, the scenarios, the imagery, the deep lore, and deep thoughts put into it made it a perfect and such an entertaining movie for me. From the grandma's funeral until the ending scene, I wasn't bored or uninterested at any time. It was so much fun; I refused to ever stare at my phone. Ari Aster is a genius, and this was such a strong directorial debut. With that, and also being a full-on menacing score by Colin Stetson picked out for every scene strategically."Hereditary" slowly pulls you in before giving your nerves and your senses a good working over. It is shocking and I wouldn't describe it as a slow burn, but it does take time to show us everything. It starts with a funeral, making you think this will be the most impactful death of the movie if you didn't know anything about it. If you don't stop reading this review and go watch the movie, then holy shit, things get so dark and eerie. Most horror movies are also dark, twisted, and gory, but most always have that brief opening of comic relief, something to giggle about, something that the movie puts in there to make you feel happy and laugh. "Hereditary" isn't that movie. There is not a single bit of happiness, laughs, or jokes. There isn't anything to smile about in this movie's theme. Sure, you might laugh at a guy staring at a girl's ass or him being stoned, but apart from that, you will be tense, shocked, and if you liked it, probably sad at the ending this family got. It's a good indicator of what a hell of a ride you're about to watch when the movie opens with an obituary. Turns out, it's for a grandma that, as the movie progresses, she isn't the kind of person we thought she was. It's a horror film, but it spends most of its time as a family drama. Like Ari himself said, it's "a tragedy that curdles into a nightmare." A thing I really liked about this movie is that it really doesn't fit into a specific subgenre in horror. Sure, it's gory, but it's not so gory to be put into the gory or body horror category. Sure, it's spiritual and religious, but also not enough to be put into religious horror. It's also a thriller and a drama, so I guess psychological horror, but also a cult horror. What I mean is that it's a little bit of everything and combines a lot of horror genres or movie genres as a whole. It doesn't make a complete mess out of it; it's organized and beautiful, so well filmed, written, and acted. Everything in this was amazing and contributed to wanting to give this a rewatch. I don't know when, but I will be rewatching it. Ari Aster was able to create such a disturbing film that gets under your skin through slow-boiling horror beats while patiently maneuvering its characters through scenes/stages of grief, mental and emotional instability, and finally full-blown terror. It's one part a heart-wrenching family story, but also as Aster begins carefully peeling away the surface layers of his tale, a dark and deeply unsettling heart is revealed. It is not for everyone, so if you are really a fan of horror and see a lot of people like me loving this movie and you didn't and are confused, it's because it's not for you. Don't blame yourself; it's perfectly okay to dislike this movie. Some people like it, others not. What's not okay is to shit on Ari Aster's work and say it's so overrated or tries so hard to be shocking and different. It sucks. Just say you don't like it and move on. It's a devastating, melancholic story with such an awful and hopeless and bizarre ending. It does stay true to the whole religious aspect that it has. I checked, but it's so empty, and I don't know how to explain; you just have to watch to understand. And those motherfuckers were smiling, though. Dude, fucking assholes. A gut punch is not the best way to describe this movie. I would describe it as that toenail couch scene in SpongeBob, but in the end, Squidward's toenail rips his foot in half with a lot of family drama in between. "Hereditary" is short on gore but long on general creepiness. What makes it work are the performances, particularly Toni Collette’s commitment to playing a parent whose family is disintegrating around her while her sanity is fleeing. Audiences have talked about how this film stays with them after the credits roll, and I think that’s largely due to Collette’s blood and guts, leave-everything-on-the-screen efforts. Its a family drama that unfolds its lore throughout its run time lurking at the supernatural progessively more and more having an empty and sad ending. Overall, it's so good but so good so good, it's an instant top 4 for a reason. Not for everyone, but it's bizarre, dark, and twisted. It is so well-constructed from beginning to end. I loved every single thing about it. It was heart-wrenching, surreal, bleak, and gloomy. Even though I wrote this long-ass review, I still think I haven't said all my thoughts about it.