 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Hereditary • Year: 2018 • Country: USA • Director: Ari Aster • Main cast: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne • Runtime: 127 minutes • Production company: PalmStar Media • TRAILER
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Beware, beware, many media have been calling Hereditary (2018) the best horror movie of the year and after watching it I think that’s far from accurate. Does Hereditary (2018) have good intentions and a dark atmosphere? Yes. Is Hereditary (2018) filled with passionate and thrilling performances (especially Toni Collette is outstanding here)? Yes. But that’s pretty much about it.
Wrapped in an aura of mystery, cold treated images and the feeling that the story is not telling us the audience everything that is going on, Hereditary (2018) ends up being a collection of cliches seen a million times in other horror movies of the same kind. It is true, it has a handful of intense moments. But it’s also true that the running time of over 2 hours of film goes too slow, and by the time those intense moments appears the audience is already disconnected from the story. Also, half of those impacting moments are on the trailer, so one was already expecting them. For me that was a capital mistake.
Hereditary (2018) is the debut film of writer/director Ari Aster, a man who has been a filmmaker of short films for almost a decade. One can feel the passion of a newcomer imprinted on the images. Very well chosen frames to show what needs to be shown, and a delicate and beautifully dark cinematography. But the biggest problem with this movie is the script and the direction. Although the story might not be the most original one, the approach was quite interesting. But the director tried so hard to create an ambient of fear and mystery for so much length of the running time that the achieved effect was right the opposite. So many minutes of nothing happening. I know Toni Collette’s character is having a bad time, but that’s not being transmitted to me, I’m getting bored.
The movie starts with the funeral of the matriarch of a family. There already one can see not everything is clear water. Good. Together with the title of the movie and the way the mother and daughter are behaving, one can feel there is something weird with the females in that kin. Grandmother, mother and daughter seem to be the weird ones. The movie is very well acted, not only by the 2 leads, veterans Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne, but also by the two youngsters Alex Wolff and debutant Milly Shapiro, a young teenager with an impressive presence and hopefully a bright future ahead. Ari Aster had very good cards, great actors, a story with some potential and a very good sense of cinematography and imaginary. But didn’t play a good game. Let’s hope that was due to his inexperience and in the future he is able to deliver good nightmares, a good film to remember. Because, honestly, besides some good moments, overall Hereditary (2018) is pretty forgettable.
I have heard people comparing Hereditary (2018) with The Exorcist (1973). Well, no way. Perhaps that was the filmmakers’ intention, but the result can’t be in the same league than William Friedkin’s masterpiece. They are almost not playing the same game! Hereditary (2018) can be enjoyable if you don’t expect much and are in the mood of watching a semi-creepy movie. Because if you expect more, you’ll be disappointed.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt7784604
