A handful of “Scary” movies have been released recently that go beyond that genre. Films like A Quiet Place and Get Out might be listed as “Horror,” but I feel their interesting stories take them beyond that, and even encouraged people who aren’t “Horror fans” to see them anyway.
Hereditary is NOT one of those films!!!
This R-rated picture about the death of a family matriarch is beyond terrifying, and might have even set a new industry standard.
Hereditary stars Toni Collette, whose difficult mother passes away and sets her family on an unexpected path. The discord is punctuated by battles with her teen-aged son Peter, who is played by Alex Wolff. Yes, that’s the same kid who played Spencer in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and the shift from nerd to powerhouse-young-actor just adds to the surreal nature of this film.
I’m not going to tell you anything else about the story line. Instead, I’m going to tell you how Hereditary has affected me since seeing it, to help you decide if you should buy that ticket. I have thought about it nightly, and had to force certain images out of my brain, just so I could walk to the bathroom in the dark. It has also made me think about mental-illness, but not in a distant and safely abstract way. No, Hereditary brings mental illness directly to you, and drops it in your lap like a cat with a dying snake.
Oh, and don’t think that I just dropped a big spoiler because Hereditary isn’t just about mental illness. In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll still be wondering what exactly this movie is about as you leave the theater…but in a good way.
And if you’re like my friend Kristi, who loves scary movies and jumped at the chance to see Hereditary with me, you’ll cry through the last twenty minutes of the movie and ask out loud, “Oh dear GOD, when is this going to END???”
But again…in a good way. (A)
Hereditary is rated R. It opens June 8th and tickets can be purchased HERE.