I’m gonna start this post with a fun fact: the 2018 movie Hereditary, directed by Ari Aster, is scientifically proven to be the scariest movie of all time according to a study done by GIGACalculator.com. Point, blank, period.

This movie very much gives me Coraline vibes, meaning it constantly leaves you on the edge of your seat and maybe scars you mentally and emotionally for a few days. Have fun reading!!

Viewer/reader discretion is advised. This is a disturbing one my friends. And as always, SPOILER ALERT!

Plot:

I will admit, this movie plot is a bit confusing at times so bare with me here as I use my last few brain cells to explain this one. Director Ari Aster mixes concepts of mythology, the supernatural, mental health, and so much more into Hereditary in order to illustrate this very unique story.

Before we discuss the details and events of the plot, we need to discuss the main component of the movie so that everything else makes sense. The whole movie revolves around the dark, traumatizing history of the Graham family, specifically, Annie Graham, played by Toni Collette, and her side of the family. Annie’s family has been cursed by a demon that is passed down through generations. Annie’s mother Ellen Leigh, played by Kathleen Chalfant, lead a cult that worships a demon named Paimon, who is one of the eight kings of Hell. The cult aims to use young men as a host to put Paimon into (which people imply is the reason Annie’s father and brother died). As if an occult, self-sabotaging family wasn’t enough, the family also inherited mental illnesses that runs through their bloodline.

Since the demon needs a male host, Ellen never paid much attention to Annie, making her grow cold, which she reflects in her future children. She never felt loved by her mother, causing her to not know how to act as a mother. Because of her family history (distant mother who likes to conjure up demons and shove them in her family members), Annie never really wanted to be a mother, as we later learn she tried to abort Peter so he didn’t have to endure the inevitable. When she eventually gave birth, she did everything she could to keep her mother away from her son.

Now, the actual plot. You can tell from the first scene in the movie, which is the funeral of Annie’s occult mother, that the Graham family is very estranged; they keep to themselves and even when it is just the family, they don’t say much to each other. The family consists of Annie, her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne), their son Peter (Alex Wolff), and their daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro). As Paimon inhabits and kills of each of the men in the family, he moves on to the next generation. So once Ellen died, the demon seeked refuge within Annie. After a tragic car accident where Charlie died (a lot happens in this scene but the gist is that she had her head out the car window while Peter was driving and a lamp post took her head right off), Peter succumbed to the inherited mental illnesses and became very depressed, causing him to become vulnerable. Paimon took advantage of his weakness and inhabited his body. You watch Peter attempt to live with these, literal, demons, and let’s just say he did not do very well at it.

While Peter is throwing himself out windows and being possessed by a demon, you know, the usual, Annie is also diving head first into her mother’s cult because she is able to communicate with Charlie in the afterlife and eventually brings her back as a vengeful spirit. Charlie proceeds to possess Peter as well (will this poor guy’s life get any easier?), causing him to repeatedly slap himself in the face to “wake himself up”.

With the help of Peter has a host, Paimon eventually influences Steve, Peter’s father, to burn himself alive and Annie to chop her head off with an axe.

Analysis:

I did warn you about it being disturbing and confusing. But congrats if you made it this far.

Now, as previously stated, Hereditary mixes concepts of mythology, the supernatural and mental health. By using a supernatural aspect, the director is able to better demonstrate how we can’t escape the scars of our family, whether that be mental health or tragedy (or in this case, both). There are so many different scenes and details that relate back to mental health I could go on and on about just that, but I will spare you….maybe (psychology nerd alert).

As I have discussed in previous posts, mental illness can affect more than just the sufferer, as it can hurt family and friends. Not many people understand how important of a role genetics play when it comes to mental health. Children of people with mental illnesses have a predisposition of inheriting those illnesses before they are even conceive, along with any “skeletons in the closet” that the family holds. You can see the ripple effect of mental illness go through each generation of Annie’s family. Ellen had some demons, causing her husband and son to die, and then Annie inherited the same demons. Once Annie had children, it caused Peter to suffer from an immense amount of emotional pain, leading to the death of his sister and ultimately, his parents. The image of Paimon can be used to illustrate depression or mental illness as a whole as he goes through each generation, but is only let loose when the person goes through a tragedy and/or becomes vulnerable. Charlie possessing Peter in addition to the demon could be analyzed as Peter’s guilt of her death taking over him. Additionally, the scene where Peter is slapping himself in the face can be taken as him trying to “slap the memories of Charlie out of him.” I don’t know, this is all my opinion.

I do believe that this movie could’ve portrayed the same message without the traumatizing, gory, supernatural parts, but hey that’s just show business. Despite “what the hell just happened??” moments, I do believe this movie is truly one of the scariest, if not the scariest movies I have ever need. It is definitely not for the weak-stomached or easily squeamish population, but definitely give it a shot….if you think you can handle it.