Every year there is a horror film that stands out and creates a big word of mouth buzz with audiences, it looks like we have our film this year in Hereditary. It is impossible to call something a ‘masterpiece’ without sounding like a massive tool, however, this film is near perfect filmmaking and one of the best horror films to come out this decade.

Hereditary is a story about a small rural family dealing with the loss of a family member. Annie Graham (Toni Collette), is an artist who builds small-scale models for art galleries. She lives with her husband Steve, their teenage son Peter, and daughter Charlie. Allie has a troubled relationship with her family and worries about her family’s history of mental illness. When another tragedy strikes, Annie begins to wonder if her mental state is going to cause her family to fall apart or if something far more sinister at play in her life.

This film is Marvel at storytelling and filmmaking, the story is presented in a fashion that keeps you guessing and keeps you interested. You’ll never truly know what is going on but the film cleverly drops hints about the bigger picture, some of those hints you probably won’t catch the first time around. Writer and Director Ari Aster introduce both elements of mental illness and supernatural occurrences that always has the audience questioning if they are seeing is real, a figment of our character’s imagination or something more.

You may have heard the marketing campaign about this film regarding the heart rate of the audiences, well it isn’t a work, your heart rate will be racing at points of this movie because you’ll be constantly asking yourself what is going to happen next. Even the sound design and music is played to the rhythm of a heartbeat where you’ll wonder if it’s you or the movie. Toni Collette is an amazing lead who goes through a wide range of emotions and drives this narrative with grace as an emotionally broken mother with skeletons in her closet. The only true complaint is with the ending. Mainly, because the final twist leaves a couple more questions than answers while creating a big plot hole that was hard to look past. The ending may also be too weird for some similar to Annihilation, but with the quality of the ride up to that point, there won’t be that many complaints from moviegoers.

Hereditary is a near perfect horror assault on your senses that ups the game in style and execution. A film you have to see for yourself not to give too much away will leave you twisted, disturbed, and amazed.

4/5

Don’t Forget to Like and Subscribe to Twitter For Updates. Also, Follow This Blog at Society-Reviews