Film Review: "Hereditary" (2018).

"Every family tree hides a secret" in Hereditary. This supernatural horror film written and directed by Ari Aster, his directorial debut. When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter's family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

While a student at the American Film Institute; Aster scripted and directed two provocative short films bringing him under the scope of A24. Aster originally pitched Hereditary as a family tragedy that "curdles into a nightmare," careful not to call it a horror film outright. A fan of domestic dramas, Aster incorporated themes of the genre into his script, envisioning a film rooted in family dynamics, trauma, and grief; Carrie (1976) and The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) served as influences. The script reflects a real-life incident from 2005 in Marietta, Georgia, in which John Kemper Hutcherson accidentally decapitated his childhood friend and passenger, Frankie Brohm, on a telephone pole, after the latter had leaned his head from the vehicle to relieve the symptoms of his inebriation. Hutcherson then drove home with Brohm's headless corpse in the car and fell asleep, until a passerby, walking with his toddler, noticed Brohm's body still in the truck the next morning and notified authorities. By February 2017, Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, and Ann Dowd were cast. Collette was one of the first actresses Aster sought for the role of Annie Graham. Though Collette was reluctant to work on a horror film, the script's grounded approach to the genre convinced her to commit to the project. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and took place throughout Utah. Aster liked Utah for the film because he thought its mountains are beautiful and breathtaking, but also menacing and ominous. Aster wanted any effect that could be done practically to be done that way, instead of in post production.

The film stars Collette, Byrne, Wolff, Shapiro, and Dowd. The cast gave extraordinary performances of such immense pain that it virtually leaves a stain on your sub-conscious. Much of the film is keenly attuned to human failure and the ugliness of families, making for a magnetic but continually cringe-inducing ride.

Ambitious, impressively crafted, and above all unsettling, Hereditary further proves writer-director Ari Aster is a horror auteur to be reckoned with. The film is a horrifying look at families, bloodlines, and family secrets - and it brings us one of the most memorable and disturbing finales in history. The film is an absolutely spellbinding horror film, as well as an observant human portrait. By the end, I was angry at the way the film manipulated me to the point where my heart was thudding, and embarrassed because the film really works. It's a horror classic, and years from now it will still be written and argued about, and it will still be scaring the daylights out of new generations of moviegoers.

Simon says Hereditary receives: