Hereditary is being heralded as the next horror masterpiece, with buzz stretching back to its Sundance Film Festival debut and all the way through to the recent spate of reviews that have been pull-quoted and shared throughout the internet. It's a film that is having a moment, and debuting a promising new voice in film with writer/director Ari Aster. Most importantly, it's one of the big new movies hitting theaters this weekend, and it's going to have people talking. So naturally, it's time to rate and discuss this shocking film, with all of the spoilers your mind can handle.
Now it's very important that we stress, in as frequent a manner as possible, that you should go into Hereditary as cold as you possibly can. This film works heavily on a slow burn that reaches a critical peak, and its approach certainly has gained the attention that A24's past horror hits such as The Witch are famous for. Also, critics are definitely in love with Hereditary, especially our own Sean O'Connell, who wrote the following in our official review:
Hereditary messes with your perception. It forces you to doubt what you are seeing. It suggests the supernatural, but keeps you on your heels until its answer is finally delivered.
While reviews are a pretty good barometer for how a film will play, it's the audience that really makes or breaks every new release that tries to conquer the box office. So it's time for us to turn things over to you, the folks at home, as we'd like to hear what you thought of Hereditary, starting with a discussion of certain aspects surrounding the movie. Using the discussion questions below as a jumping off point, let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section:
- The film is being compared to The Exorcist, which while being a legendary horror film, was a project its director never approached as a genre picture. Do you think Ari Aster took the same approach to Hereditary, and if so how well do you think it worked?
- Do you consider Hereditary a horror film? What genre / sub-genre would you classify it under?
- How well do you think the film's marketing campaign misdirected your expectations for Hereditary's plot?
- When did you figure out Joanie's role in the supernatural conspiracy at the heart of the film?
- Is Toni Collette a front-runner for Oscar contention after her performance as Annie?
- Would you watch Hereditary again, or was it so frightening / jarring that you're good with one viewing?
- Which do you think is the better double feature pairing: Hereditary and The Babadook or Hereditary and mother!
With thoughts comes the need to rate just how well Hereditary played for you during your screening. As such, on the standard scale of 0 to 5, please rate the film in the poll below. Don't forget to share your rating, and your reasons why, with your thoughts at the end of this article.
This poll is no longer available.
Before you set off to see one of this weekend's other films, or maybe to see Hereditary yet again, we'd like to redirect you to some additional reading. First, feel free to take a look back at the Mother's Day trailer, and think about just how well the actual plot's tracks are covered in the ad campaign. Also, you can read about how the cast feels about Ari Aster's masterful feature debut being compared to William Friedkin's legendary film The Exorcist. Last, but not least, we have Toni Collette talking about how this supernatural horror thriller is similar to the one that helped put her on the map, The Sixth Sense.
That's it for the latest Rate and Discuss, so have fun with whatever you're going to see this weekend! We'll see you back next week for our discussion of The Incredibles 2!
