The Fantastic 'Hereditary' Is A Slow Burn Of A Thriller That's Worth The Wait

Tonight, I finally had the chance to view the incredible new thriller, Hereditary.  I didn't have the opportunity to see it in the theater, but I was intrigued by the terrifying trailer and the incredible reviews.  It was billed as "The most terrifying movie since The Exorcist," but I found that to be a little misleading.  It has its terrifying moments, but it's much more than a typical thriller.  Hereditary takes its time to simmer, but once it reaches its third act, it's totally worth the wait.  The pacing of this film is on purpose.  Director, Ari Aster, lets the story build, and the tension boil until it explodes into a truly terrifying and ultimately satisfying finale.

Another reason that I was interested in this film is the divide between its critical and fan response.  It has almost universal critical praise, but audiences were turned away by it.  I think that in a summer dominated by a more typical horror movie, A Quiet Place, (a movie that I also really enjoyed), Hereditary chose to be different.  I think that the marketing of this film is partially to blame for its poor audience response.  Audiences went in expecting The Exorcist and were treated to something more akin to The Shining (another film with an early poor audience response).  It's more of a thinking character study than an outright horror picture... and I loved that about it.

I don't want to ruin the plot by giving away spoilers, but essentially it's a study of a family dealing with the loss of a loved one, that also has some supernatural elements to it.  I really enjoyed this character study, in part because the actors were all exceptional. Toni Collette shines as the mother trying to keep her family (and sanity) together as things around her unravel.  She gives such an honest and haunting performance that you never know whether she's actually seeing what she's seeing.  Gabrielle Byrne also gives an understated performance as a husband who is clearly in love with his wife, but also begins to expect that she's lost her mind.  Finally, newcomer Milly Shapiro gives a Shining-esque performance as the daughter of the family who may or may not have a form of evil inside her. 

I really enjoyed Hereditary.  It dared to be more than a typical thriller and I believe its stature will only grow over the years into the horror classic that I believe it to be.  Stick around for the incredible third act.