Hereditary Turns Grief Into Horror Over 8 Years On

Hereditary opens with a family gathering at a house that feels too quiet, too clean, too perfect. Within an hour, that house has become a trap. The 2018 film, directed by Ari Aster, turns grief into horror, and the result is one of the most unsettling movies of its decade. It earns an 8.7/10.

Trailer, via A24.

The Parker Family

The film follows the Parkers: Peter (Alex Wolff), Charlie (Millicent Simmonds), and their mother, Annie (Toni Collette). They gather to mourn the death of their grandmother, who lived with them. Peter is withdrawn, Charlie is deaf and anxious, and Annie is brittle, barely holding together. The father, Steve (Gabriel Byrne), is distant, working long hours. Their grandmother’s death sets off a chain reaction that the family cannot escape.

The Funeral

The funeral is the calm before the storm. Annie delivers a eulogy that feels hollow, and the family leaves the church to find a strange man waiting for them outside. He hands Peter a box containing a small wooden doll. The gift is innocuous, but the film suggests otherwise. The doll becomes the hinge of the plot, and the film spends the next hour building dread around it.

The Doll

The doll is not a prop. It is a character. It appears in scenes where the family is not looking, and it seems to move on its own. The film does not explain the doll immediately, and that refusal to explain is part of its power. The audience is forced to watch the Parkers react to something they cannot name, and that uncertainty mirrors their terror.

Toni Collette’s Performance

Collette carries the film. Her Annie is a woman who has spent years suppressing her emotions, and the film watches her lose control in slow motion. She laughs at inappropriate moments, she screams at the wall, and she eventually snaps completely. The performance is physical, and it is devastating. When she finally loses it, the scene is genuinely frightening.

The Middle Stretch

The middle section of Hereditary builds slowly. The film introduces new details about the family’s past, and it adds layers to the grandmother’s character. These scenes are not as tense as the opening or the finale, but they establish the stakes. The slow burn pays off once the horror arrives.

The Third Act

The third act is where Hereditary moves from psychological tension to pure horror. A ritual unfolds in the basement, and the film shows the family being pulled into a world they do not understand. The sequence is not subtle, but it does not need to be. The film trusts its audience to feel the dread rather than explain it.

What Works and What Doesn’t

• The performances, especially Collette’s, are uniformly strong.
• The doll functions as a genuine threat rather than a gimmick.
• The pacing builds steadily until the payoff.
• The film commits fully to its horror.
• Some supporting characters feel thin.
• The ending is abrupt, leaving questions unanswered.
• The middle section drags slightly before the payoff.

The Sound Design

The sound design deserves credit. There are moments where the film goes silent, and the absence of noise is just as effective as a jump scare. The film also uses sound to unsettle, with creaks and whispers that arrive out of nowhere. The score, by composer Colin Stetson, is sparse and tense, and it knows when to pull back.

The Final Scene

The film ends on a note that refuses resolution. It is open-ended, and that ending has divided audiences. Some find it satisfying, others find it frustrating. The film leaves the audience with a question about the nature of the supernatural elements, and it does not answer it. That refusal is a deliberate choice, and it fits the film’s themes of inheritance and legacy.

The Legacy

Hereditary is often cited as one of the best horror films of its era. Its influence can be seen in other films that follow, though none have matched its nerve. The film is not for everyone, and its final stretch will test anyone who watches it. But for those who stay with it, the payoff is real.

Hereditary is a film about loss, about the weight of history, and about the ways families carry burdens they cannot see. It is also a very good horror movie. It is loud, it is messy, and it is unapologetic. It earns its reputation, and it earns its 8.7/10.

Ari Aster · film review · Hereditary · horror · Toni Collette