When you settle down to watch Hereditary, the first thing you get introduced is a distorted family. The film opens with a miniature model to real life transition of the Graham family. The Grandma is dead and Charlie Graham, the youngest of the family seems distracted. We get to see how broken and irreparable the family is. Annie played by Toni Collette is struggling to maintain close relationships with her family members inclusive of Charlie, and Peter( Son ). While Steve Graham played by Gabriel Bryne tries his level best to maintain peace in the household, but still at some point, loses it all. The First half is all about the family dynamics and the showcases of how distant they all are while being in the same household.
The most intriguing character of this movie is definitely the Grandma, even though she is dead, we would want to hear more of her story and her restrained relationship with her own daughter and how she grew so close to Charlie and all. Above all of it, we would definitely want to know what all errands were this person into, at some point. Annie is a miniature artist who is, seemingly the only person who seems to care about the family’s internal distance and as to why people amongst her doesn’t seem to acknowledge their faults and say it out loud, the latter which leads Annie to deliver a fantastic monologue and is performed so well and convincingly by Toni Collette. A major shout out to Toni Collette for the layered and nuanced performance she delivers alongside the tonal highs and lows. We sympathize with Annie’s grief so well and that’s the core of this whole movie.
Once Charlie dies, the household starts to notice strange incidents happening and the psychological dread re-starts it’s work more effectively. The Second half comprises of the legend of Paimon and all the strange events which eventually leads to a collateral damage on the household. And I love how less Ari Arister relies on jumpscares and builds seat edge worthy tension. The only thing which pulled me out of the movie is how complex the lore was depicted which leaves the audience suffocated and not able to follow. Even though the visuals do the work, we don’t get to understand what is unfolding on screen without having a conference on Reddit! Just Kidding!