Here's a confession: I'm not crazy about The Exorcist. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a fantastic film, and I definitely get the hype, but it's never been one that I've really loved. It's well made, and excellently acted, but it never had the same impact on me as it did on everyone else. So when Hereditary was billed as "this generation's The Exorcist", I was more than a little skeptical. When I saw Hereditary though, I was actually fairly impressed. No, I don't think that the Exorcist comparison fits too well, but more on that later. For now, let's talk about one of the most surprising and spooky films of the year.
Hereditary follows the Graham family after the death of their grandmother. What follows won't be spoiled here, because it does go to some really interesting places, and I think it's best experienced blind. The really interesting thing about Hereditary's plot is that so much of the horror and suspense lies in the trauma of the whole thing. It takes the impact that the grandmother's death had on the family and uses that as a catalyst to unearth all sorts of horrors. The film's real strength is how it uses the characters and their personalities as a link to something really scary, while never quite revealing what that is until the end. The gradual unpeeling of the horror makes Hereditary a very tense watch, and builds this phenomenal atmosphere of dread.
Ari Aster's direction also throws the audience off guard fantastically. The scares here are gradual but masterful, with one scene involving an allergic reaction being a near unbearable watch. But what really frightens are the ideas of trauma and mental illness, which linger long after the credits roll. Especially when the film suggests that these things are passed down through families. That's the truly scary stuff here.
The acting is also a highlight. Toni Collette is unbelievable here, and absolutely sells every moment of this film. She never feels like a horror victim, instead being someone who's genuinely struggling with trauma, grief and.... well, you'll see. She's a tragic character more than anything else, and she always feels human, even when she cranks up the terror and fury later on in the film. But it's not just her. Alex Wolff holds his own fantastically here, which isn't an easy task when Colette is on top form, but he really knocks it out of the park. He's also maybe the most sympathetic character here, and gives the film a really human edge, even during it's truly insane moments. And Milly Shapiro is pretty great here too. She excels at being both very unsettling and quite sad, and plays a huge part in setting up the film's disturbing atmosphere.
And if those three are fantastic, then I'm not quite sure what to say about Gabriel Byrne. I hate to say it, but he's definitely the weak link here. And it isn't that his performance is bad, it's just.... confusing. There were moments that I found his accent slipping, and there was definitely some overacting going on too. Again, he plays a crucial role, and he does act genuinely well, but for every moment that he pulls off perfectly, there's at least three that kind of took me out of the whole thing.
And on the topic of qualms, I have a few with the ending. I'm still not going to spoil it, so don't worry. I love the core ideas of grief here, and I think that they make the film so scary, but by the ending, there's just too much going on. There's a little bit of everything here, and it just feels bloated. Rather than feeling overwhelmingly scary, Hereditary's ending just feels baggy and unnecessary. That's a serious shame when the film had such a great atmosphere and such fantastic ideas. This should be gripping stuff, but it just lost me. And that's a serious shame. Because I wanted to love this one all the way through. It's not even the Exorcist comparison that puts me off, it's just everything that the film was working towards seems squandered on a mish mash of horror tropes.
And on the topic of The Exorcist. This film really isn't anything like it. The Exorcist approaches it's ideas from a spiritual standpoint, while Hereditary focuses on how grief and psychological trauma affect families. Even the way they scare you are totally different, with Hereditary favouring a quiet scare (for the most part), while The Exorcist's scariest moments generally aren't as understated. But also, comparing these films really doesn't do either of them any favours. I get the whole "if you liked this, then you'll love this" thing, but saying that this film is "this generation's The Exorcist" is kind of ridiculous, because The Exorcist hasn't lost much of its cultural impact over the last 45 years. Hereditary is this generation's Hereditary. The Exorcist is still The Exorcist.
But even then, Hereditary is still generally impressive. Any real issue I have with it lies in the last twenty or so minutes, and up until then it's pretty damn scary. I love that Ari Aster gets horror. He knows that it's not just there to scare, but explore the ideas that really make us human. His use of these themes and ideas in this film is deft and eloquent, and it's worth watching for those core ideas alone. The actors (generally) have no trouble expressing these ideas and emotions, and that results in some truly dynamite horror. I had my problems with this film, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, and it's definitely good. Go see Hereditary. Go see The Exorcist. Enjoy them both for what they are.
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