HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Hereditary'' is a 2018 American
psychological horror Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subge ...
film written and directed by
Ari Aster Ari Aster (born July 15, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for writing and directing the horror films ''Hereditary'' (2018) and '' Midsommar'' (2019). Early life Aster was born into a Jewish family in Ne ...
in his feature directorial debut. It stars
Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...
, Alex Wolff,
Milly Shapiro Milly Shapiro is an American actress and singer. She starred in the 2018 horror film ''Hereditary'' and the 2013 Broadway production of ''Matilda the Musical'' playing the role of Matilda Wormwood. She also played Sally Brown in an Off-Broadway p ...
and
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
as the members of a family haunted by a mysterious presence after the death of their secretive grandmother. Aster's short film work attracted the attention of A24, who greenlit ''Hereditary'' as his first feature film. Aster conceived it as primarily a
family drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
and a story consisting of two distinct halves. Filming took place in Utah in 2017, with most indoor scenes shot on custom built sets on a soundstage to give the film a dollhouse aesthetic. ''Hereditary'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
on January 21, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 8, 2018. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise for Collette's performance and Aster's direction. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest horror films of all time. It made over $80 million on a $10 million budget to become A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at the time.


Plot

Miniature art Miniature art includes paintings, engravings and sculptures that are very small; it has a long history that dates back to prehistory. The portrait miniature is the most common form in recent centuries, and from ancient times, engraved gems, of ...
ist Annie Graham lives with her psychiatrist husband Steve, their 16-year-old son Peter, and their 13-year-old daughter Charlie. The family attends the funeral of Annie's cold distant mother, Ellen, and Annie is surprised at the number of people in attendance. Annie attends a bereavement support group, revealing she and her mother had a fraught relationship until Charlie was born when Ellen became a significant figure in raising her. Meanwhile, Steve gets a phone call during a conversation with Annie telling him that unknown perpetrators desecrated Ellen's grave, but he does not reveal this to her. Peter is invited to a party, and Annie insists on Charlie going with him. On the way to the party, the siblings pass a telephone pole carved with an old
sigil A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner ...
. At the party, Peter leaves Charlie by herself, and Charlie, who has a severe nut allergy, eats chocolate cake containing walnuts and goes into
anaphylactic shock Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the follow ...
. As Peter drives Charlie to the medical centre, she leans out of the window for air; when Peter swerves to avoid a dead animal, she is decapitated by the sigil telephone pole. In shock, Peter drives home and leaves Charlie's body in the car, where Annie discovers it the following morning. Annie grieves deeply and blames Peter for Charlie's death, while Peter becomes reclusive and feels incredibly guilty. Steve attempts to bring them back together during this time. Annie befriends support group member Joan. Joan teaches Annie to perform a
séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...
to communicate with Charlie. Later that night, Annie convinces her family to attempt the séance. Objects begin to move and break. Peter is petrified when Annie speaks in Charlie's frightened voice until Steve douses her with water. As Peter begins to be plagued by supernatural forces, Annie suspects Charlie's spirit has become malevolent. When she sees images in Charlie's sketchbook threatening Peter, she throws the book into the fireplace. However, her clothing catches fire alongside the book and only stops when she pulls it away from the flames. Annie goes through her mother's old belongings. She finds a photo album featuring pictures of Joan and Ellen together, despite Joan claiming she never knew Annie's mother. Ellen is revealed to have been Queen Leigh, the leader of a
coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promot ...
. Annie also discovers a book about a
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...
king named Paimon, which states that King Paimon wishes to inhabit the body of a male host. The summoner of Paimon will receive wealth and rewards. In the attic, Annie finds Ellen's body and
occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...
ist symbols. While Peter is outside his school, Joan appears and attempts to expel his spirit from his body for the demon king. In class, he is taken over by an unseen force and slams his head against his desk. Annie informs Steve of her discoveries and implores Steve to burn the sketchbook. When Steve accuses Annie of being ill, Annie seizes the book. She throws it into the fireplace, but Steve erupts into flames as it burns. As Annie looks on, she becomes possessed by King Paimon himself. Peter awakens to find his father's charred corpse by the fire, and nude coven members in the house before a possessed Annie chases him into the attic. Peter watches Annie decapitate herself with a
piano wire Piano wire, or "music wire", is a specialized type of wire made for use in piano strings but also in other applications as springs. It is made from tempered high-carbon steel, also known as spring steel, which replaced iron as the material ...
before diving out of the attic window to escape. As Peter lies on the ground, Paimon possesses him, and Annie's headless corpse levitates into Charlie's treehouse. The now-possessed Peter follows his mother's floating body into the treehouse. There, he finds Joan, other coven members, the headless corpses of his mother and grandmother, and Charlie's crowned, severed head resting atop a mannequin. Joan appears and places the crown on Peter's head. She addresses him as Charlie, swears an oath to him as Paimon, and declares that he is now free to rule over the coven. As the coven members chant "Hail Paimon," Peter stares blankly ahead.


Cast

*
Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...
as Annie Graham, a miniatures artist *
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
as Steve Graham, a psychiatrist and Annie's husband * Alex Wolff as Peter Graham, Annie and Steve's 16-year-old son *
Milly Shapiro Milly Shapiro is an American actress and singer. She starred in the 2018 horror film ''Hereditary'' and the 2013 Broadway production of ''Matilda the Musical'' playing the role of Matilda Wormwood. She also played Sally Brown in an Off-Broadway p ...
as Charlie Graham, Annie and Steve's 13-year-old daughter * Ann Dowd as Joan, a support group member who befriends Annie * Mallory Bechtel as Bridget, Peter's schoolmate and love interest
Ari Aster Ari Aster (born July 15, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for writing and directing the horror films ''Hereditary'' (2018) and '' Midsommar'' (2019). Early life Aster was born into a Jewish family in Ne ...
has an uncredited voice cameo as Annie's art dealer, who calls to offer support after the tragedy she has been experiencing. Kathleen Chalfant makes an uncredited appearance as Ellen Taper Leigh, Annie's mother. Aster refers to her as "the sweetest person in the world".


Production


Development

Writer-director
Ari Aster Ari Aster (born July 15, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for writing and directing the horror films ''Hereditary'' (2018) and '' Midsommar'' (2019). Early life Aster was born into a Jewish family in Ne ...
embarked on a career in the film industry while a student at the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...
; he scripted and directed two provocative short films, '' The Strange Thing About the Johnsons'' and '' Munchausen'', bringing him under the scope of A24. Aster originally pitched ''Hereditary'' as a family tragedy, careful not to call it a horror film outright. A fan of domestic dramas, Aster incorporated themes of the genre into his script, envisioning a film rooted in family dynamics, trauma, and grief; '' Carrie'' and '' The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover'' were works Aster specified as influences on ''Hereditary''. He interpreted the film as two halves which are "completely inextricable from each other": "It begins as a family tragedy and then continues down that path, but gradually curdles into a full-bore nightmare." The script resembles a real-life incident from 2004 in Marietta, Georgia, in which John Kemper Hutcherson accidentally decapitated his childhood friend and passenger, Frankie Brohm, on a telephone pole, after the latter had leaned his head from the vehicle to relieve the symptoms of his inebriation. Hutcherson then drove home with Brohm's headless corpse in the car and fell asleep, until a passerby, walking with his toddler, noticed Brohm's body still in the truck the next morning and notified authorities. Aster has never commented on this.


Casting

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...
was one of the first actresses Aster sought for the role of Annie Graham, a miniaturist and the matriarch of the Graham family. Though Collette was reluctant to work on a horror film, the script's grounded approach to the genre convinced her to commit to the project: "He sterjust really understood the dynamics in the family, has such an understanding of what it is to be human, what it is to experience loss".
Gabriel Byrne Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
agreed to play the family's patriarch Steve; Alex Wolff, who previously collaborated with Byrne in the HBO program ''
In Treatment ''In Treatment'' is an American drama television series for HBO, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, based on the Israeli series '' BeTipul'' ( he, בטיפול), created by Hagai Levi, Ori Sivan and Nir Bergman. The series is about a ...
'' was cast as the Grahams' son Peter. Cast in her cinema debut, 14-year-old
Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...
actress
Milly Shapiro Milly Shapiro is an American actress and singer. She starred in the 2018 horror film ''Hereditary'' and the 2013 Broadway production of ''Matilda the Musical'' playing the role of Matilda Wormwood. She also played Sally Brown in an Off-Broadway p ...
, winner of a Tony Honor for her performance in '' Matilda the Musical'', earned the role of the daughter Charlie. After watching Shapiro's audition, Aster was immediately relieved "'cause I knew the chances were slim that I would find somebody who would be right", having left Charlie's personality more ambiguous than other characters in the script. Ann Dowd portrays grieving mother Joan, who convinces Annie of her ability to contact the dead.


Filming

The film began shooting in February 2017 in Utah. The exteriors of the Graham family house and the tree house were shot in Summit County, Utah, and the cemetery scene was filmed at Larkin Sunset Gardens in
Sandy, Utah Sandy is a city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, located in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population of Sandy was 87,461 at the 2010 census, making it the sixth-largest city in Utah. The population is currently estimat ...
. The school scenes were shot at West High School and Utah State Fairpark, but all other interiors (including both versions of the treehouse) were built from scratch on a sound stage. Since each of the rooms was built on a stage, walls could be removed to shoot scenes at a much greater distance than a practical location would allow, creating the dollhouse aesthetic of the film. Aster said that during filming, "Alex Wolff told me not to say the name of William Shakespeare's Scottish play out loud because of some superstitious theater legend. I smugly announced the name, and then one of our lights burst during the shooting of the following scene."


Release

''Hereditary'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...
on January 21, 2018. The trailer for the film was released on January 30, 2018. On
Anzac Day , image = Dawn service gnangarra 03.jpg , caption = Anzac Day Dawn Service at Kings Park, Western Australia, 25 April 2009, 94th anniversary. , observedby = Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Cook Islands Ne ...
in 2018, the trailer for ''Hereditary'' played before the PG-rated family film ''
Peter Rabbit Peter Rabbit is a fictional animal character in various children's stories by English author Beatrix Potter. A mischievous, adventurous young rabbit who wears a blue jacket, he first appeared in ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'' in 1902, and subs ...
'' in a cinema in Innaloo, Western Australia. According to a report in ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', the ''Hereditary'' preview was accidentally shown to family audiences and created a small panic in the theater. The theater was apparently full of families including "at least 40 children". The film was released in the United States by A24 on June 8, 2018. It was released in the United Kingdom by
Entertainment Film Distributors Entertainment Film Distributors, Ltd. is a British distributor of independent films in the UK and Ireland for various production companies, founded by Michael L. Green and currently run by his son Nigel Green. Michael L. Green was a veteran pro ...
on June 15, 2018.


Reception


Box office

''Hereditary'' grossed $44.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $36.2 million in other countries, for a total worldwide gross of $80.2 million, against a production budget of $10 million. In the United States and Canada, ''Hereditary'' was released alongside ''
Ocean's 8 ''Ocean's Eight'' (stylized onscreen as ''Ocean's 8'') is a 2018 American heist action thriller comedy film directed by Gary Ross and written by Ross and Olivia Milch. The film is both a continuation of and a spin-off from Steven Soderbergh's ...
'' and ''
Hotel Artemis ''Hotel Artemis'' is a 2018 American dystopian action crime film written and directed by Drew Pearce, in his feature film directorial debut. It stars Jodie Foster, Sterling K. Brown, Sofia Boutella, Jeff Goldblum, Charlie Day, Brian Tyree H ...
'', and was originally projected to gross $5–9 million in its opening weekend, similar to the debuts of previous A24 horror films '' The Witch'' ($8.8 million in 2016) and '' It Comes at Night'' ($6 million in 2017). It was also the widest-ever release for an A24 film with 2,964 theaters, besting the 2,553 of ''It Comes at Night''. After making $5.2 million on its first day, including $1.3 million from Thursday night previews, weekend estimates were increased to $12 million. It went on to debut to $13.6 million, finishing fourth at the box office, behind ''Ocean's 8'', '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'' and ''
Deadpool 2 ''Deadpool 2'' is a 2018 American superhero comedy film based on the Marvel Comics character Deadpool. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, it is the sequel to ''Deadpool'' (2016) and the eleventh installment overall in the ''X-Men'' film series. ...
'', and marking the best-ever opening for an A24 title. In its second weekend the film dropped just 49.5% to $6.9 million (compared to the 60–70% fall many horror films see in their sophomore frame), finishing sixth. On July 29, 2018, the film became A24's highest-grossing film worldwide at $80 million, beating '' Lady Bird'' ($78.5 million); it held the record until June 2022 when it was surpassed by ''
Everything Everywhere All at Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as "Daniels"), who produced it with Anthony and Joe Russo. The plot centers on a ...
''.


Critical response

On the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 383 reviews, and an average rating of 8.3/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Hereditary'' uses its classic setup as the framework for a harrowing, uncommonly unsettling horror film whose cold touch lingers long beyond the closing credits." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 49 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Writing for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
'',
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and called it the scariest movie of 2018, saying "it's Collette, giving the performance of her career, who takes us inside Annie's breakdown in flesh and spirit and shatters what's left of our nerves. Her tour de force bristles with provocations that for sure will keep you up nights. But first, you'll scream your bloody head off." For '' The A.V. Club'', A.A. Dowd gave the film an A−, stating that, "In its seriousness and hair-raising craftsmanship, ''Hereditary'' belongs to a proud genre lineage, a legacy that stretches back to the towering touchstones of American horror, unholy prestige-zeitgeist classics like ''
The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 The Exorcist (novel), novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, ...
'' and '' Rosemary's Baby''. Remarkably, it's a first feature, the auspicious debut of writer-director Ari Aster, whose acclaimed, disturbing short films were all leading, like a tunnel into the underworld, to this bleak vision."
Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.
gave the film four out of five stars and advised that it was suitable for viewers aged 17 or older.


Audience reception

Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "D+" on an A+ to F scale. Some publications noted the critics-to-audience discrepancy, comparing it to ''
Drive Drive or The Drive may refer to: Motoring * Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle * Road trip, a journey on roads Roadways Roadways called "drives" may include: * Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive" * ...
'', '' The Witch'' and '' It Comes at Night'', all of which were critically acclaimed but failed to impress mainstream moviegoers.


Accolades


References


External links

* * * * * * {{Ari Aster 2010s supernatural horror films 2018 films 2018 horror films A24 (company) films American psychological horror films American supernatural horror films American horror drama films Supernatural drama films Folk horror films Demons in film Film controversies in Australia Films about cults Films about death Films about dysfunctional families Films about Spiritism Films about mental health Films about spirit possession Films set in Utah Films shot in Salt Lake City Films about witchcraft Films about grieving Films about child death Films directed by Ari Aster Films scored by Colin Stetson 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2018 independent films American independent films