Hereditary (2018) Review: A horror that starts at home

Every family has secrets, but what happens when those secrets are darker than anyone could imagine?

In Hereditary, grief, family conflict, and disturbing discoveries slowly turn an already troubled household into a nightmare. Ari Aster’s horror film explores the terrifying possibility that some things passed down through a family cannot simply be escaped.

What is this movie about?

Hereditary follows Annie Graham, an artist who lives with her husband, Steve, and their two children, Peter and Charlie. The family is already dealing with personal struggles when Annie’s mother dies. Although her death brings sadness, it also leaves Annie questioning how much she really knew about her mother and the secrets she kept. Soon, the family begins experiencing events that make their grief even harder to handle. Things take a drastic turn after a tragedy involving Charlie changes the family’s lives completely. Everyone reacts to the loss differently, creating tension inside the household. Annie struggles to cope with her grief, while Peter becomes increasingly withdrawn and Steve tries to prevent the family from falling apart. Their pain leads to arguments, blame, and growing mistrust. Annie experiences disturbing encounters, and the family starts uncovering details about their past that suggest their problems may be connected to something much larger than grief alone.

Director: Ari Aster

Genre: Psychological Horror, Supernatural Horror

Main Cast

Toni Collette

Alex Wolff

Milly Shapiro

Gabriel Byrne

Rating

IMDb: 7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 90% (critics)

Direction and storytelling

Ari Aster's use of silence and ordinary family moments creates fear. Simple conversations, quiet rooms, and everyday activities often feel unsettling because of the tension between the characters. He emphasizes psychological tension, family conflict, and emotional suffering rather than relying on constant jump scares. His direction makes the Graham family’s home feel increasingly uncomfortable as their relationships begin to fall apart. The film moves at a slow pace, allowing viewers to notice small details and sense that something is wrong long before the full mystery begins to unfold. This gradual build-up makes the frightening moments more effective because the audience spends much of the film waiting for something terrible to happen.

One of Aster’s strongest techniques is his use of silence and ordinary family moments to create fear. Instead of immediately revealing the source of the horror, he allows grief, guilt, and resentment to grow within the family. As Annie and Peter struggle to deal with their pain, the story slowly shifts from a family drama about loss into a disturbing supernatural mystery.

This change feels gradual rather than sudden, making the horror more deeply connected to the characters’ emotional struggles. Although the slow pacing may not appeal to everyone, Aster’s storytelling gives Hereditary its distinctive atmosphere and lasting impact. Instead of immediately revealing the source of the horror, he allows grief, guilt, and resentment to grow within the family.

Themes of the movie

One of the central themes of Hereditary is grief and family trauma. After the death of Annie’s mother and the tragedy that follows, the Graham family struggles to cope with their emotional pain. The film shows how grief can affect people differently and how unresolved emotions can damage relationships. Annie and Peter’s strained relationship is especially important because their pain often turns into blame and resentment.

Another major theme is inheritance and the fear of losing control over your own life. The title Hereditary suggests that certain things can pass from one generation to another, including family secrets, emotional suffering, and forces that characters may not fully understand.

The film also explores guilt, helplessness, and the fear that some events cannot be prevented, no matter how hard someone tries. As the supernatural mystery develops, the Graham family’s personal struggles become connected to something much darker. Through these themes, Ari Aster creates a horror story that is not only about frightening events but also about the fear of being trapped by your family’s past and a future you cannot control.

Cinematography and Sound

The cinematography in Hereditary plays an important role in creating its disturbing atmosphere. The use of carefully arranged shots, dim lighting, and unusual camera angles to make the Graham family’s home feel increasingly uncomfortable. The miniature models created by Annie are also an important visual element because they blur the line between a carefully controlled display and the family’s real lives.

Wide shots often make the characters appear small and isolated within their surroundings, while close-ups capture their fear, grief, and emotional breakdowns. These visual choices create a feeling that the family is trapped in a situation they cannot fully understand or escape.

The sound design makes even ordinary moments feel scary. Silence is used to build anticipation. Small sounds, sudden noises, and the film’s unsettling musical score add tension without constantly relying on loud jump scares.

Charlie’s distinctive clicking sound becomes particularly memorable because it creates an immediate sense of unease whenever it appears. The combination of sound and visuals allows the film to build fear gradually, making the audience feel uncomfortable even when nothing frightening is visible on screen.

Together, the cinematography and sound design turn the familiar family home into a place filled with dread and help make Hereditary such a psychologically unsettling horror experience.

Scariest scenes of the movie

One of the most disturbing scenes in Hereditary is the tragedy involving Charlie after she attends a party with Peter. The moment changes the entire direction of the story and leaves Peter in a state of shock and guilt. What makes this scene so frightening is not just what happens, but the way the film presents its aftermath.

The following morning, when Annie discovers what has happened, the scene becomes even more painful and unsettling. It is a moment that stays with viewers because of its emotional impact rather than traditional horror techniques.

Another frightening moment occurs when Annie begins experiencing disturbing supernatural events inside the family home. Her growing fear and desperation make the house feel increasingly unsafe, even during quiet scenes. The sequence in which Peter notices something terrifying is particularly effective because the audience shares his uncertainty about what is real.

The film’s final scenes are also among its most disturbing, as the mystery surrounding the Graham family reaches its horrifying conclusion. The combination of unsettling imagery, eerie silence, and the revelation of the family’s fate creates a deeply uncomfortable ending.

Ending Explained (Spoiler alert)

The ending of Hereditary reveals that the Graham family’s suffering is connected to a supernatural plan involving Paimon, a demon mentioned in the film’s occult mythology. Throughout the story, Annie believes she is dealing with grief, family trauma, and the disturbing secrets left behind by her mother, Ellen. However, the final revelations suggest that Ellen had been involved in a cult that wanted to summon Paimon into a suitable male host. Charlie’s unusual behavior and the strange events surrounding her death become more significant once this plan is revealed. The cult’s apparent goal was to prepare Peter’s body for Paimon, making the family’s tragedies part of a larger scheme rather than a series of unrelated events.

In the final sequence, Peter becomes increasingly terrified as the supernatural events around him intensify. After Annie’s horrifying transformation and death, Peter jumps from the attic window. He appears to die, but then rises and follows a strange light into the treehouse, where members of the cult are waiting.

The ending suggests that the cult has succeeded in placing Paimon within Peter’s body. The crown placed on Peter’s head symbolises his acceptance as the demon’s chosen host, while the cult’s celebration confirms that its plan has reached its conclusion.

The ending also connects directly to the film’s title, Hereditary.

The family appears to have inherited more than emotional wounds and unresolved trauma: its past is tied to a supernatural plan that the younger generation cannot escape. Annie spends much of the film trying to understand her mother’s secrets, but she never gains control over what is happening to her family.

Peter, meanwhile, becomes the final victim of a plan set in motion before he understood it existed. This is what makes the ending so disturbing: the characters’ attempts to survive only seem to bring them closer to the fate prepared for them.

What I Liked About the movie

What I liked most was how the movie combines horror with emotional struggles. Toni Collette delivers a powerful performance as Annie, showing how grief, guilt, and fear gradually affect her behaviour. The tension between Annie and Peter also makes the story more engaging because their relationship feels complicated and painful rather than simply serving the horror plot. I also liked Ari Aster’s direction, particularly the use of silence, disturbing visuals, and uncomfortable family moments to build suspense. Instead of depending entirely on jump scares, the film creates a sense of dread that grows stronger as the story progresses. The ending was another highlight because it connects many of the film’s mysterious details and leaves viewers thinking about its meaning.

What I Didn’t Like About The Movie

I didn’t like its slow pacing. Some scenes feel unnecessarily long, especially for viewers who prefer a faster horror story. The film also leaves several details open to interpretation, which can make parts of the plot confusing on a first viewing. While the mystery adds to the unsettling experience, I would have liked a little more clarity about certain characters and their motivations.

Additionally, the disturbing imagery and emotionally intense scenes may feel excessive for some viewers. These choices support the film’s dark tone, but they can also make it difficult to enjoy if you prefer horror that balances tension with more straightforward storytelling.

Final Verdict

Hereditary is a disturbing and memorable horror film that proves fear can come from more than ghosts and sudden jump scares. If you are looking for a horror movie with a strong emotional core, an oppressive atmosphere, and an ending that changes how you understand the entire story, Hereditary is definitely worth watching. Just be prepared for a dark and uncomfortable experience that may stay with you long after the credits roll.

My rating : 8/10