Film of the Year #10 - Hereditary

Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018)

Here's something embarrassing: I had nightmares about this film before I even saw it. The trailer is a masterclass in teasing horror - perfectly edited, suggesting so much, revealing very little. It took me quite a long time to work up the nerve to watch this. I missed its theatrical run but decided to go all-in on horror in October, and I was glad I did. There are only a couple of the dreaded jump scares in this movie; instead it layers on the horror through a pervasive sense of despair and disorientation. Aster delivers a bold and blistering debut here. He goes much farther than you ever think he will. There are moments where I sat dumbfounded at what had just happened onscreen, and actually had to pause to process.

The script would almost be too dark to bear if it weren't also so clever, and delivered by a brilliant cast of actors. Toni Collette gives possibly the best performance of her career as a mother split open by grief and confusion, raw and razor sharp in all of her scenes. Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro as her children are also deeply effective. The score heightens the tension beautifully, and the compositions are visually clever as well, sometimes rigidly structured like the dollhouses Collette's Annie creates, or chaotic and bursting with action as the paranormal assault mounts. Hereditary will stick with you. I won't be surprised if it wakes me up in a cold sweat for a long time yet.