WHAT I LIKED: Ari Aster's debut feature 'Hereditary,' really is one of the most unpleasant and terrifying films to be made in quite a long time, but the interesting thing about it is that (on first watch at least) it can be interpreted as an incredibly dark and depressing perception of a family's descent into madness and despair after severe trauma, or at the same time as a bat-shit crazy, balls-deep demonic horror movie about possession and the supernatural.
It all starts with a family affected by the death of their mysterious grandmother, and then after another traumatic event, things slowly begin to spiral out of control. Strange events start occurring and a demonic presence is foreshadowed in many different ways, and to the audience it becomes clear that something spiritual is being constructed around the characters in it. The majority of the film thereafter is spent watching the mother catching up with that fact, but the audience may also spend much time trying to work out whether that presence all actually comes from the fabric of her building insanity instead, as Aster equally throws in more and more skeptical suggestions that undermine the reality of what we're seeing. The film even opens zooming in on a small static model of a scene that then comes to life which suggests it's all a fabrication of the mother's.
When it finally does descend into full-on horror territory and the mother seemingly realises what she thinks is happening though, rather than answering its questions, the film's message initially only becomes more unclear such makes it extremely mysterious and terrifying because any attachment to reality successfully disappears.
As a result you'll find yourself somewhat bewildered and consequently terrified, but it is important to note none of that would have been possible if you didn't care about the characters - and that's down to the fact that they get so much time in the script as well as such excellent portrayals by Gabriel Byrne and Toni Collette in particular.
All in all then, this is a terrifying film that depicts a family spiralling out of control, and for the most part it's unclear whether that's actually due to a demonic presence, or whether that presence is fabricated by the mother's own madness. Crucially though, the film also keeps that up in the air for what is virtually its entirety, and that makes it very mysterious and all the more scary as it detaches itself from the fabric of grounded reality and makes for something that will shake you to your core and have your knees tucked up to your chest for its majority.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Unfortunately the final few moments do seemingly answer that central quandary wih bags of plot explanation, and that removes all of the ambiguity for any subsequent re-watches and much of the potential impact leaving the theatre.
VERDICT: A film that depicts a horrifying descent into chaos in a way that for the most part questions the reality of itself, 'Hereditary,' is a smart and terrifying horror movie that will have you quivering and shaking from its start to about ten minutes before the end.
