Movie Review: Hereditary

I haven’t done a movie review in a while. I guess I’ve just been kind of busy, but not so busy that I’ve stopped going to the movies every week or two! We did manage to catch the new Avengers and Deadpool. Solo. Ocean’s 8. Black Panther. Etc. I didn’t really feel the need to post anything about those movies. Well, my wife and I saw a completely different movie this weekend, and I figured it might be time to break out the old movie review post again.

You probably haven’t heard much about Hereditary. It kind of flew under my radar, likely because I tend to laugh through horror films and it drives my wife nuts. She wanted to see this one really badly though. She wanted to be scared, and on that, Hereditary delivered. So, what is the film and why might you want to see it?

In many ways, Hereditary is very derivative. There’s nothing you will see here that you haven’t seen before in terms of content, but the way it is presented to you is pretty unique. It’s a slow-building horror that really walks you through the strangeness of the family and how something insidious springs out of it. There are multiple genuine surprises here that I did not see coming (and that make sense), so that always elevates my score.

The movie teases you with ominous normalcy, and then something that pulls at a more primal part of you. If you’re really getting into the movie, it totally works. Do not come to this movie expecting gore throughout, constant high-pitched noises and other pervasive cheap tricks. This is a pretty well-crafted movie–though I sort of wish the ending had been a bit different. I think a different ending that had been moving toward more uniqueness, rather than commonality with other films in the genre, would have helped set this apart. I had a similar feeling at the end of A Quiet Place. I still liked both films very much, but man, they each went from unique and novel films to a standard ending really quickly.

Anyway, because my wife was so amped up by Hereditary, I ended up having a lot of fun during and after the movie. I began making extra clicking noises with my tongue during the film in tense moments, just to mess with her and other people around me. I continued to do this in the car, at a restaurant, etc. I mean, why stop there? I would say definitely watch this one with a friend or loved one because these kinds of films are much better in a shared social experience with someone you can talk with about it.

If I have to rate the film, it’s probably a 4/5. It’s definitely the kind of horror movie I can appreciate. I would rank A Quiet Place similarly if you haven’t seen that one yet, btw. They’re both definitely worth watching, and they both really only lose that point in the last 30 minutes or so of each film. These movies aren’t really made for me though, and I think classic horror fans would probably give both of these 5/5. They’re well made movies!

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On an unrelated note, expect a cover reveal for The Dragon Prince soon 😉