User reviews

The reason that Hereditary is worth watching is because of Toni Collette. Her performance is so powerful, complex, and nuanced that you practically feel the emotions she is feeling in each scene. That being said, this is not easy to watch. There's a general unpleasantness hovering over the entire film. It made me feel uneasy, and not in a fun horror movie way. I also think that this film is too cerebral for its own good and it will leave you scratching your head in confusion if you don't do some research. I think Hereditary is well made, I just don't think I'll be watching it again any time soon.

First of all, I have to say that Toni Colette is one hell of an actress, She was brilliant in this.

I was gripped by this movie, a slow burner , creepy , unnerving , and , for me , very disturbing. I was quite moved in parts , and in others I was terrified . A movie has not affected me like this one for some time, it stayed in my head afterwards. I highly recommend it .

Great cast , excellent performances , just a great movie !

This has to be one of the best horror movies ever! Toni Collette gives a performance of a lifetime and I think possibly the best of her career. Just when you think you know what's going on, the movie flips. It's so amazingly written and such a thrill ride. Not for the faint of heart!! I've watched this so many times but still get the same chill every single time. Definitely would recommend to horror fans! Review: 10/10

In many ways, Hereditary is the horror movie I've been restlessly waiting to see for so many years. Despite my avid fandom for the genre, I really feel that modern horror has lost its grasp on how to make a film that's truly unsettling in the way the great classic horror films are. A modern wide-release horror film is often nothing more than a conveyor belt of jump scares strung together with a derivative story which exists purely as a vehicle to deliver those jump scares. They're more carnival rides than they are films, and audiences have been conditioned to view and judge them through that lens. The modern horror fan goes to their local theater and parts with their money on the expectation that their selected horror film will "deliver the goods", so to speak: startle them a sufficient number of times (scaling appropriately with the film's runtime, of course) and give them the money shots (blood, gore, graphic murders, well-lit and up-close views of the applicable CGI monster etc.) If a horror movie fails to deliver those goods, it's scoffed at and falls into the "worst film I've ever seen" category. I put that in quotes because a disgruntled filmgoer behind me broadcasted those exact words across the theater as the credits for this film rolled. He really wanted us to know his thoughts.

Like similarly fantastic and crowd-displeasing horror films of the past few years, The Witch and It Comes At Night, Hereditary is a film that largely deals in atmosphere and emotional horror. The Shining, which happens to be my favorite horror film, is a clear touchstone and I would go as far as saying that this is the first modern horror film I've seen that genuinely captures a similar tone and ethos. Much like that film, it delivers its horror through an intensifying sense of unease and dread that becomes nearly suffocating by its conclusion. Rather than startling you with cheap scares, it offers haunting and upsetting images which are often delivered without any of those overused sonic jolts. Perhaps most importantly, it anchors everything in an emotional core with nuanced characters who experience relatable family struggles and grief. And that is absolutely critical to what makes the movie effective and resonant: it works on a metaphorical level, using the supernatural story as a vehicle to explore the very real way in which a family can be absolutely ravaged by tragedy, and furthermore how trauma and mental illness are passed through the generations. I'd be remiss not to mention that Toni Collette gives a mesmerizing performance in this film that is absolutely unhinged and truly difficult to stomach at times.

For all that praise and as excellent as I think it is, Hereditary isn't quite a masterpiece. Despite the fact that I was very much invested and riveted throughout the length of the film, there were some detectable pacing issues. I feel conflicted in saying that because I'm very much a fan of the slow-burn horror style which benefits from a deliberate pace, but I did get the occasional nagging sense that things could've been tightened up just a tad without losing the effect. Some of the scares in the film, often the more "traditional" horror moments, also struck slightly the wrong note with me on a first viewing and were just a hair too campy or on-the-nose given how visionary and restrained the majority of the film is. And in its ending few minutes, the film really shows its full hand when a bit more ambiguity may have served it better.

The positives far, far outweigh the negatives here though and Hereditary is ultimately a remarkable debut horror film which showcases what the genre is capable of when it's taken seriously by a talented director. Here's hoping we'll continue to see more like it.

Light 4.5/5

I thought the beginning was rather nicely done, creepy in not an overt way. It was all about weird family dynamics and the unseen. I liked that, even though I didn't know where this was going. It was promising. This culminated in one gruesome event. Afterward, the movie devolved (IMO) into a waste of my time. It was too slow and it seemed like the creators didn't know where this was leading to. If the movie had done something with that promising start, my rating would be higher. As such it is, my rating is just 6 our of 10 and the latter part of the movie is definitely worse than 6 stars. Yeah, it's all explainable, but it was not scary anymore, except for that school scene (possession). That was well done. There were too few scenes like this.

Watch Rosemary's Baby for a much MUCH better film about sort of similar stuff.

The daughter looks really weird and out of place and people would react to her differently than they did in the movie. Examples are the school party and that stuff with the pigeon in the schoolyard. The son and daughter also looked in no way like each other, even though they're supposed to be family. Maybe that's just me. Whatever. It's just a movie and in the end not a classic. The relationship between the father and mother is also crazy and to me looks unrealistic. It had not enough depth.

Have fun watching it. It's kind of disturbing. It's messed up.

And I mean this in the best way possible. The spectrum of emotions you go through range from sheer terror to complete hopelessness and sorrow. The movie picks at the human psyche in all the right ways. It's both hard to watch and impossible to look away. Hands down the best horror films I've ever seen, perhaps one of the best films in general.

Sorry, but I thought this film was absolutely awful. The storyline made no sense. It was as if there were two movies: a well made drama about a family dealing with significant unresolved issues and 20 minutes of silly, non-sensical horror grafted onto the end. I have no idea why so many people gave this movie such high ratings.

I was alone and browsing for a movie to watch. Stumbled across this one and set out to casually watch a basic scary movie, with no clue of what I was about to experience. I barely moved the entire movie, and sat in stunned silence for 20 minutes after the credits started rolling, and hardly slept that night. I was petrified.

The absolute commitment that Toni Collette gave to this role as Annie is beyond description. She grabbed me and held me, and I'm not being hyperbolic. She found the deepest pain and distress inside herself that I've ever seen portrayed on screen. Her beautiful FACE revealed ugly and tragic feelings that words could never. She played mental illness and pain as real and as raw as I've ever seen it. Ever.

Hereditary has officially surpassed The Shining and The Exorcist as MY scariest and most disturbing movie of all time. And it's not even close.

Generally Regarded as one of the Better Horror Movies of Recent Years.

It's one that Slow-Burns and Creeps Under Your Skin and into Your Head.

Debut Movie for Writer/Director Ari Aster (followed by "Midsommar" (2020).

The Film is Highlighted by some Incredible Camera Work and a Bravura Performance from Toni Collette.

The Other Actors Deliver Riveting Roles that are Demanding and Essential to the Power of this Haunting and Harrowing Movie.

Not Without some Issues, like the Over Two Hour Running Time that is Pushing the Limits of such a Nerve-Racking Template to the Extreme.

The Ending can Alienate some Viewers with a Cultish Trope that can be Over-the-Top or Downright Bizarre.

There is No Doubt that this is a most Unsettling Film.

It is Not an Easy Watch, it's Presented with Painstaking Images with a Rhythm and Style at a Pondering Pace .

Viewers with Patience will be Rewarded while others may Head for the Exits.

Not for Everyone .

If Cerebral Horror with a Slow-Burn is what You Seek, Look No Further.

This is a Well Crafted Exploration of Generational Dysfunction with an Infection of Supernatural Evil.

'Hereditary' is sort of like two films in one. Half of the time it is being what I expected it to be, which is a horror movie. The other half though it plays out much like a drama. I would even suggest it's a better film when it's in drama mode than it is when it's in horror mode. The film is over 2 hours in length which is extremely long by modern horror movie standards. The reason I believe for this is that it's trying to fit so much in and achieve so much in such a little time. It's a very ambitious film it would have to be said.

The entire cast were terrific, but Toni Collette absolutely blew me away. The emotional depth she is able to achieve never ceases to amaze me and she is captivating to watch in any scene she's in. I feel like she is one of the most under-appreciated actresses working today. As mentioned though, everyone is terrific and this is one of the best acted horror movies you are likely to find.

I sat in the cinema for a couple of minutes are the credits rolled just trying to work out how I actually felt about the film. I know I liked it, but I also know I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to going in. It certainly surprised me that I was more invested in the real-life drama side of things, and that the horror was almost like an unwanted distraction at times. The horror is almost always about atmosphere and visuals rather than any kind of jump-scare which I always like. What I didn't like though was how casually it jumped from seeming normality to outright suspension of belief. I feel like this could have been bridged a little better. Early on there's a lot of subtlety, then in one scene all of that is thrown out the window at once. I suppose at least the audience knows where they stand from that point onwards.

'Hereditary' is a film made with impeccable quality, of that there is no questioning. In fact it's made so well that I would suggest what story you picked to tell almost wouldn't matter because writer/director Ari Aster clearly has the skills to make it work. I can see opinions being very divided on the film (I even had a couple walk out of the cinema at one point in my showing), but I think the majority will like it on some level and for that reason I would recommend giving it a look.

Movies like Heredity remind me that mood trumps jump scares and gore in the horror genre. The mood of this movie goes from a family that has suffered loss of someone that, well, they are better off without to tense, terrible and completely sad story. I don't want to go deep into it but the emotions it evokes are real. This does not mean that the movie does not use manipulations all horror movies use and it is necessary to make the story work.

Now lets get to the reason why this movie puts it above so many: The performance of Toni Collette. She played her part with so much raw emotion, pain, terror, sadness and maniacal energy that I do find it hard to believe she did not get accolades for her performance. By the end of the movie I was emotionally exhausted and fully impressed by her.

This was a solid watch and I will watch it again to catch subtle things that I have missed on my first watching.

This film starts off intriguing, then something happens midway through; the writer gave up. He quit. Or got lazy. Or both. He had the audience with him and then...poof, he completely allowed this to veer into absolute ludicrousness. And the ending is one of the all-time dumbest I've ever seen. It's difficult to fathem why Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne signed on to this other than the possibility that they share a genetic link to the director.

Hereditary is without a doubt one of the most frightening, deeply disturbing, and evocative pieces of horror I have ever seen.

Instead of scaring you right away, the film slowly takes its time to build a bone chilling atmosphere and genuinely get under your skin. Hereditary uses its isolating cinematography, tense dialogue, and bloodcurdling soundtrack to quietly whisper to you that something unspeakably horrifying is bound to befall its cast of characters.

The characters themselves are all impeccably acted and written to feel like real people. Each of the characters have their own multi-layered fears and traumas that they attempt to deal with throughout the story.

The film explores how a family can slowly be driven apart through grief and tragedy as well as the horrific consequences this can have on the lives of each of the family members. These themes are conveyed through palpably uncomfortable dialogue between characters and the raw, visceral acting performances of the film's two leads Toni Colette and Alex Wolff.

While Hereditary is slow paced, the unrelenting tension and dread present within the story as well as the mystery behind what exactly is going on are enough to keep you thoroughly invested. The second and third acts of the film are truly terrifying in a way that few films can hope to match. The ghastly imagery and scare sequences are so nightmarish that they are capable of staying in your head for days after watching the film. The characters feel so real that it is as if you are watching real people having their lives being torn apart.

Overall Hereditary is not for everyone and isn't an easy movie to watch. It is very clammy, unnerving, and disturbing. But if you are looking for a well written and mature horror story that grounds its terror in human emotion this is the movie for you.

I've seen the movie twice. The first time it was sometime preferable to plucking hairs. The second, I saw more into it than the long intervalled borefest previously encountered. I appreciated Toni Colette for the first time ever in 18 movies. The rest, akin to dismal. I see that horror has taken a turn from frights to a disturbing circumstance that may happen in the house next door.I enjoy that. Unfortunately having next to zero plot with so much well done cinematography it stood on one foot, fighting off excitement with "darkness and anticipation". The fight being concluded with a shrug, delivered by boredom, and the referee, "Slapdash Quickplot", called it quits with a quick ending to an otherwise fruitless film. Toni Collette did well until now was not a fan. On a scale of one to ten I rate it a "meh".

This is a bit of an old fashioned horror movie. Something that plays as a dramatic movie first and then slowly becomes something else. Like "Rosemary" or "Exorcist" but without the high profile clout of those directors. This is two hours of an exploration of family tragedy and grief through characters struggling to cope.

To say much of this film is to ruin it, so lashing praise onto certain aspects of it is the best one can do. Not to say this is a film with a big twist, it isn't. Toni Collette is fantastic as is no surprise at this point in her career. All the performances carry their own, including one I was unsure of at first but grew on me throughout -- Alex Wolff. The cinematography, rhythms and pacing, sense of place and space, and sound design are all superb and work in conjunction to create atmosphere and dread -- like a pit in your stomach that continues to grow and grow throughout.

It turns into a genuine nightmare that absolutely worked for me. See it blind, see it as a movie first and foremost (not as a horror show with jump scares), but just see it.

Really ended the film until the last 10 minutes. Won't spoil it for anyone, it's not without merit, but the conclusion left me thinking 'SERIOUSLY'?

The first two thirds of 'Hereditary (2018)' are essentially a drama that deal with poignant themes of grief and the accompanying guilt using a horror genre language, which is an interesting move that allows for a unique expression of the severity of these emotions. It is these moments that are the most effective as they tap into a universal fear and experience in a really realistic way that isn't necessarily used to frighten but is used to create emotional attachment to the characters and may perhaps illicit a genuine emotional response. Yet, I can't easily name another movie that falls apart so heavily thanks solely due to its ending, which intends to 'pull the rug out' from under its audience - and does so successfully - but comes at the cost of logic, investment and, most importantly, scariness. Instead of recontextualising the flick as one that embraces its new elements and intended reading in retrospect, it forces in nonsensical and previously unconsidered elements - via clunky exposition, no less - to frustrating, and sometimes unintentionally funny, effect. It honestly changes the entire affair for the worse, dampening the effect of all that came before it until the memory of any success all but fades. It's annoying, too, because the potential was there and I was definitely willing to put the effort in, eager to delve into the experience with an open mind and a watchful eye. I found my willingness to approach the film from an intellectual stand-point, as well as to give it the benefit of the doubt on a number of occasions, not to be rewarded, to say the least. The more I think about the picture, the less I like it. 5/10

Have always had a lot of appreciation for horror, even though it isn't my favourite genre, and 'Hereditary' was a film that immediately held my interest in seeing it with such an arresting concept. Although more polarising with audiences it was very positively received films critically, having more than once seen and heard it described as one of the year's best.

Despite reviewing it only now, 'Hereditary' was another film viewed weeks ago but with so many commitments and such a big to watch and review list it's taken a long time to get round to reviewing it. While the polarisation is understandable, count me in as another person who was really impressed by 'Hereditary', very nearly loving it even. Of my recent 2018 viewings, it definitely stands out as one of the better ones and it is not hard to see whether it is considered in as high regard as it is. Can also see why it has been compared to 'The Exorcist' and 'The Shining', having just as much the same amount of dread and hellish atmosphere, and also couldn't help thinking of another slow-burn horror from this year that divided opinion but was also critically acclaimed 'A Quiet Place'. Not in concept and they're different films, but in that they're polarising but mostly positively regarded and both films that were very well made, well acted and unnerving.

It is hard to know where to begin praising something with so many positives. 'Hereditary' is incredibly well made visually, one of the most audacious and best-looking films in the genre in recent years. The photography is both dream-like and nightmarish, while the film is slickly edited, atmospherically lit and the spacious house, with a mix of the audacious and the ghoulish, is like its own character.

The music is haunting and adds to the unnerving atmosphere as does some of the most effective sound editing and design of the year, never being obvious or cheap and providing a lot of eeriness. The writing flows well and never becomes corny or overly-wordy, sometimes even thought-provoking in particularly in what it has to say about grief and trauma.

While a deliberate slow-burn for me 'Hereditary' was not dull at all, helped enormously by the atmosphere and the near-perfect balance of family drama, which was often very poignant and packs a powerful emotional wallop, and horror, where there is not any over-reliance on predictable horror tropes and cheap scare tactics and actually was frightening and suspenseful. It always is interesting seeing film debuts and there are some fine ones out there, Ari Astor's directing is remarkably well accomplished with a fine eye for detail and an adeptness for how to pace such an atmosphere.

Characterisation-wise, 'Hereditary' is quite compelling and there is a realism to it. The performances are near-perfect, with Gabriel Byrne occasionally slightly under-playing but generally it is one of his best performances in a while. The star here is Toni Collette in a truly marvellous and often moving turn that calls for a mix of grief and terror, Collette grieves with pathos and conveys terror with intensity. Alex Woolf is the other standout for similar reasons though Milly Shapiro is not to be neglected.

It is a shame that the ending is rushed and that plausibility loses its way at this point, instead coming over as silly and like the film had run out of steam.

Otherwise, a very good film that was very nearly excellent. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Loved this movie, it wasn't hard to figure out once it peaked .. but getting there was great. I see people don't like this film and I can understand that. But it reminded me of Rosemary's Baby and that's saying a lot. As the story unfolds you see how truly horrifying this persons (Toni Collette) life has been.. the performances are spot on. This movie really ramps up in the last twenty minutes.. it's not fir everyone but it creeped me out and I watch a lot of horror. Give it a shot .. it's well worth it.

As a huge horror fan, I was very eager to see this film - I must have overhyped it though, since my friends and I all left the theater disappointed.

A very amateurish movie, that manages to hide this fact due to it's stylish (but overused) camera and the great acting (which though still has some cringe worthy moments).

The pacing is off, the film has no idea what it wants to be. There is no character arc or development for any of the films protagonists and the ending is just pointless. There is no payoff.

There are some interesting and effective horror moments but by the end the film takes such a bizarre turn that the whole audience in the cinema was just laughing.

Go watch "The Sentinel" (1977) instead - from which this film seems to have borrowed a lot.