The Horror of Ari Aster's Hereditary

Think about what scares you the most. The answer is probably not goblins or ghosts, but why is that what so many horror movies are about? Many horror movies rely heavily on jumpscares and gore to shock and scare us, but we’ve come a long way from the slasher films of the 1960s. In recent years, a new sub-genre of horror has seen a spike in popularity - psychological horror. This specific sub-genre is defined by a focus on the mental and emotional states of characters rather than supernatural elements. Movies like I’m Thinking of Ending Things and The House That Jack Built are among the more popular psychological horror movies, but one movie is often overlooked in how it’s shaped psychological horror.

Hereditary was released in late-2018 under the A24 film studio, written and directed by Ari Aster. The movie stars Toni Colette as Annie Graham, a mother broken by the death of her own mom, who has to deal with the sudden and accidental death of her youngest daughter, Charlie, brought about by her son Peter, played by Alex Wolfe. Annie’s grieving leads her into the arms of a suspicious older woman who was a friend of her mother’s, who prompts Annie to begin practicing occultism in order to cope with the death of her daughter. The movie slowly descends into complete madness as Annie realizes that her daughter is seeking vengeance for her death. The big reveal at the end is that Charlie needed to die in order to possess Peter, because her spirit was meant to be the king of hell, but being a girl kind of got in the way. This was brilliantly foreshadowed about 10 minutes into the movie, when Charlie solemnly tells her mother that “grandma always wished I was a boy.”

So, what is it that really makes Hereditary so scary? Aside from the brilliant cinematography and score, which both add to the eerie and uneasy atmosphere that makes the movie so effective, the horror of Hereditary is realism. While it’s not likely that any of us were born into a family where one day one of us will inherit the title of The King of Hell, it’s much more likely that you’ll inherit a mental illness or generational trauma from your family lineage. It’s said by Annie herself during the funeral of her mother that she was very private and cold during her lifetime - she had a life outside of her family that she kept incredibly private. We see this cold attitude repeated by Annie to her children. After the funeral, Charlie asks her mother, “Who will take care of me,” since her grandmother had died. After Charlie’s death, she has an outburst at Peter during the incredibly famous dinner table scene, where we see the strain on their relationship.

The message can get lost in the suspense of the movie, but Hereditary teaches us that history is doomed to repeat itself if it's not addressed correctly. The generational curse is a less-than-obvious metaphor, and the way it rips the family apart and leaves multiple members dead is telling of the “we don’t talk about it” attitude that has plagued many generations for far too long.