By JASON GUYER
In life, there is nothing like family. Family can be the first to be there for you. Family can be the first to bring you down. “Hereditary” takes this concept to a new level, the horror film level.
When Annie Graham’s (Toni Collette) mother passes away, Annie and her family begin to unravel the terrifying secrets surrounding the family. Annie along with her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) and their two children, Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro) try to escape the fate they have inherited.
“Hereditary” is the first feature length film written and Directed by Ari Aster. Before “Hereditary” Aster has had a penchant for unfathomable family dynamics. Just watch his short films “Munchausen” and “The Strange Thing about the Johnsons.” “Munchausen” is about a mother who is so afraid of her son leaving the house , she makes him sick. The other film is about an abusive father-son relationship, where the son is the abuser.
Aster’s “Hereditary” is just as strange, maybe even stranger. Aster is deserving of the praise he is getting for “Hereditary,” it is a wonderful film. A large number of people — critics and film goers — are calling it a masterpiece.
“Hereditary” is no masterpiece, but it is a very decent film and one worth the watch. One actor and one scene make “Hereditary” worth the experience. Toni Collette has never been better than she is in “Hereditary.” Collete’s acting carries this film, especially through the first half. Collette is even better than when she played Tara, a character with dissociative identity disorder in television show “The United States of Tara.”
In “Hereditary” Collette’s Annie is a miniaturist who builds miniature houses and replicas. When Annie loses her mother, strange happenings start to pile up leading Annie to seemingly lose her mind as well. As Annie tries to cling to reality, she does so through her children. Especially her daughter Charlie.
Charlie is played wonderfully by Millie Shapiro, and — if it wasn’t for Collette — Shapiro would have stolen the show. Although she does steal the movie in many ways. Shapiro’s Charlie is the film’s character who will ultimately determine whether or not the viewer likes “Hereditary.” Charlie is central to the film, she garners the viewers sympathy as the character is seen as the linchpin of the family. The tie that binds.
Shapiro’s best work as Charlie comes in the bird head scene. That scene is as creepy as it gets in horror films. The bird head scene is the one scene that is truly a masterpiece in “Hereditary.” Well, at the very least it is a horror scene masterpiece.
Above, I said one actor and one scene make “Hereditary.” Collette is the actor, Shapiro has the scene. That scene is not the bird head scene. Shapiro actually has the two best scenes in the entire film.
The second is one I do not want to spoil. It is far too easy to spoil it and the scene is much too important to the film and the viewers’ experience of the film. Let’s just say in the first half of “Hereditary” was a masterpiece and (a)head of the class, this scene is where it loses it. Although, the scene is wonderful and is the most memorable scene of the film, it takes away from the film from that point on.
That one scene changes the entire dynamic and the direction the film has to take to its own ending. An ending that seems to lessen the experience of the film as a whole, and the ending matters.
If a film is going to be a masterpiece, or even hailed as one, then the ending has to be as well. That is why, even today, “Citizen Kane” is still seen as the best film of all-time. The “rosebud” moment is one of the most memorable endings of all time.
Ending scenes in cinema are more important than the middle scenes. When a scene in the middle is all you remember and the ending is forgettable, then that film can’t be a masterpiece.
Just like the familial theme in “Hereditary” are the ties that bind, in cinema, Act 1 (the set up), Act 2 (The confrontation), and Act 3 (The resolution) are all ties the bind a film. When all three are in harmony then and only then do you have a masterpiece.
It may be no masterpiece but “Hereditary “ is a great film. However, the ending of the film is severed from the body of the film and Ari Aster left it on the side of a highway right next to a telephone pole.
IRATE SCORE: 3.5/5
Jason Guyer is an avid moviegoer and works in the graphicsdepartment at the Eagle Times. For questions or comments he can be emailed at [email protected]
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