Hereditary Review
What exactly happened in 2018 to give such a wave for horror movies? I know the year was some sort of boom when it came to pretty much every form of entertainment not limited to this genre. Yet I can’t really see what it was that inspired so many directors, from Ari Aster to Guadagnino to even Alexander Garland, in wanting to tackle North American soil with it. Make no mistake, I welcome it more than anything as the only thing better than seeing classic talent work overseas is seeing talent today showing us what they’ve got. And Hereditary delivers on as many levels of the genre to the point it even multitasks with its choice of scares. I suppose I can get one thing out of the way: kudos if you could continue to watch this movie by the end of the first act as it does prove it’s not afraid to juggle the chainsaws that are heady themes, grotesque (if slightly uneven) horror violence, psychological horror, and complex melodrama all before the first hour is over. That’s when the movie rewards you for sticking this far: when it heads into the fun of supernatural horror and the sort of quiet yet down-to-earth occult we haven’t seen since the 70s. And even as it’s not afraid to rely 95% on practical effects does it appear impeccably shot. Some scenes even reminded me of as much what Stanley Kubrick would’ve done if he had access to a drone as that same air-light steady-cam prominent in Dr. Sleep. It was overall made with skill yet that same balance between different types of horror working harmoniously all the way to the surreal yet fitting end.