Secrets can be dangerous things. Sometimes the secrets held jealously by those close to us can be explosive. We all understand that finding out the truth about those we trust can tear our whole world down around us. Even more terrifying, however, are our own secrets. They can be something we did, something we believe, or a history in our family. There are things we keep to ourselves – sharing them only with those closest to us, and sometimes not even then. Our secrets can destroy us. This past summer, a Horror movie came out that told the story of what happened to a family as its secrets began to unravel. That movie is HEREDITARY.
HEREDITARY opens with the Graham family preparing for and attending the funeral of their matriarch. The eulogy is given by Annie (Toni Collette), daughter of the deceased, where she speaks of her mother as a solitary figure who would be suspicious at the turnout. The grieving process sets in for Annie and her son Peter (Alex Wolff) and daughter, Charlie (Milly Shapiro). Shortly after the funeral, her husband Steve (Gabirel Byrne) receives a disturbing call that Annie’s mother’s grave has been desecrated. To protect Annie, he decides to keep this information to himself. Unbeknownst to him, Annie is surreptitiously attending group therapy sessions at the local high school. A second, horrible death in the family then sends Annie into a desperate flirtation with the supernatural suggested to her by a new friend from therapy. From here, the terrifying secrets of Annie’s lineage begin to come out.
HEREDITARY is the feature film debut of writer/director Ari Aster, and it is a debut that will be tough to follow. The main character, Annie, is an artist that works in miniatures, so the family house is built so that each room is just slightly too large – as if these people are simply figures moving through someone else’s reality. Aster often locks his camera and shoots the action in the room as if it is an elaborate dollhouse. The design, like the film’s sparsely populated Utah setting, is austere, cold, and distant – just like this family has become. The horrific set-pieces are marvelously executed and are as terrifying as they are fascinating.
Where HEREDITARY is most successful is in its acting. The supporting work is anchored by the always reliable Gabriel Byrne and Ann Dowd, and Milly Shapiro is wonderful in her feature film debut as the strange daughter, Charlie. Alex Wolff gives a towering performance as Peter, the oldest child wracked with guilt. Wolff infuses his character with such creeping vulnerability that he seems to be melting right off the screen. The tour-de-force performance of HEREDITARY, however, is Toni Collette as Annie - a woman who survived a tragic and abusive past and who is now struggling to deal with two terrible losses in rapid succession. Toni Collette unflinchingly depicts all of Annie’s isolation and desperation while never losing our sympathy. Since Annie is the product of a very dark family history, Toni Collette gives us a raw look at Annie’s very real capacity for ugliness, but always makes it clear that Annie is trying very hard to not let that darkness take her over. It is a career-defining performance that, hopefully, will be remembered come award season.
HEREDITARY is not a perfect film, by any means. The movie’s set-up is overly long, the script tends to beat its metaphors into a bloody pulp, and there are some story threads that don’t quite resolve at the end. There is also the rumbling, droning score – fashionable in Horror these days – which doesn’t give us much connection to the characters. For these flaws, however, there is no denying the film’s artfulness and its effectiveness. Ari Aster is certainly a talent to keep an eye on. A thoughtful, moody, raw, and terrifying film, HEREDITARY is a movie that will get under your skin and into your memory like a secret you want to share, but don’t really know how.
HEREDITARY fun facts – Alex Wolff dislocated his jaw when he slammed his head onto his school desk. The cushioned desk was much harder than he had expected.
The effect of the self-writing chalk in the séance scene was achieved with magnets.
The voice on the phone when Annie is talking to the art gallery is that of director Ari Aster.
Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro knew each other from acting school. They would go out to eat together in character in order to build the dynamic between their characters.
Annie - “I never wanted to be your mother.”
Annie - “You know you were her favorite, right? Even when you were a little baby, she wouldn’t let me feel you. Because she needed to feed you.”
Joan – “She isn’t gone.”
Annie – “All I do is worry and slave and defend you, and all I get back is that fucking face on your face!”