HEREDITARY

The Mondo Culto screening this November embraces the cozy, eerie Halloween spirit, delivering not a classic peek-a-boo slasher with a masked killer, but rather a dose of unsettling, unfiltered horror that may weigh heavily on the unprepared viewer.

Hereditary, the 2018 feature debut by then 31-year-old filmmaker Ari Aster, was one of the first genre films released on a large scale by the now-renowned American production and distribution studio A24 (The Witch, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Civil War). Premiering at Sundance, the film generated huge buzz, with promotional campaigns positioning it—somewhat misleadingly—as an Exorcist for a new generation, creating expectations that left some viewers disappointed. For others, it became one of the most disturbing, terrifying viewing experiences ever. Six years later, we can perhaps revisit the film with a fresh perspective and assess its impact.

When Ellen, the mentally troubled matriarch of the Graham family, dies, her daughter Annie (Toni Collette), husband (Gabriel Byrne), and their two children each mourn the loss and process their grief in their own ways. Annie and her daughter dabble in the supernatural, but each family member falls prey to grisly experiences connected to the dark secrets and emotional traumas passed down through generations. The more they discover, the more they try to escape the sinister fate they appear to have inherited.

Ari Aster, who also wrote the screenplay, saw the film as a family drama—one in which tragedy morphs into something sinister, unhomely, and deeply traumatizing. The direction, cinematography, and Colin Stetson’s soundtrack are all excellent, as are the performances, particularly Toni Collette’s, her face a mask of terror and rage in extreme close-up. Filming took place in Utah, with most scenes shot indoors on specially built sets and soundstages to give the film a dollhouse-like aesthetic. Grace Yun's production design and Pawel Pogorzelski's cinematography for the exterior shots make the Graham house look like a miniature home in a totally isolated space, cut off from any aid. The square compositions make the interiors feel like eerie dioramas with living inhabitants.

Aster knows his horror classics and creatively handles genre staples like jump scares. More than The Exorcist, his inspirations seem to come from films like Don't Look Now or Rosemary's Baby, obscure 1970s TV movies, ghost stories by M.R. James, and giallo films. Whether his stunning portrayal of lineage and inherited sin within a closed family unit has shifted horror into chilling new territory remains to be seen. Whether the film taps into your worst nightmare realm and haunts you long after the credits roll is for you to decide as you leave the theater.