Wading through a life full of consequences, we are like walking on a path that has so many branches. Each bend leads to more intersections. If we meet a dead end, we turn back and repeat from which part we took the wrong way. We feel guilty, feel successful, disappointed, especially we are proud we have a choice. We are responsible for the direction we choose. This makes us believe that we have a personal will, that we control our own way of life - even if we believe in the concept of destiny.
There are goals that have been chosen for all of us, it's up to us to how to achieve them. But if so, doesn't that mean we don't have personal will? Can it still be called a will if from the beginning we have been assigned for a purpose, for a plan? The branching streets, we just walk - don't make it? Is free will really just an illusion - are we nothing more than rats running around in a maze made by a mad scientist?
The Graham family, in the case of the Hereditary film, is like a diorama doll in a mini-house made by Annie Graham as a miniature building designer. Films cannot be more precise in taking metaphors for their work on what happens to families. Through the opening scene that was really creepy - even though there were no visible ghostly sightings - we were shown a view of the work space full of dollhouses. The camera zooms into one of the rooms, likes, we are brought into the room, then the room turns out to contain real people, and we meet Annie's eldest son and husband; Peter who was still a teenager and Steve who looked full of mind. Soon we are acquainted with the rest of the other family members, there is the youngest Charlie; this girl looks like an old man with a tightly circled eye. And of course Annie herself. They were preparing to take care of the funeral program for the grandmother who had just died. After all, Annie admitted she didn't feel sad because she was never close to the mother. Because the mother has an unpredictable nature and a kind of ‘bad influence '. Annie's family line was filled with mental illnesses which led to odd deaths. However, the 'inheritance' still cannot be broken, it is still lowered. Annie began to feel unusual sightings, other family members also began to be affected. One tragedy happened again, we will see this family one by one fall into the abyss of madness. Blood derivatives cannot be rejected. Either that, or indeed this family is a puppet family that has no control over its own destiny, they are only there to be played by a puppeteer in a great terrible plan.
"D-O-L-L-H-O-S-E I see things that nobody else sees"
From the opening scene, we can immediately know that this film is handled by filmmakers who really have passion and care about the stories that they have. Ari Asterbaru was thirty-one years old, and this was even the 'first' film. This is his debut as a long film director. I am sure there are no movie lovers who are not inspired by this fact. I want to be just like him; dare to make a film that is heavy and full of passion. His name is also Ari. Talking about free will? Yea I think this director has just proven at least he is struggling to realize his will.
There is no mainstream horror that is processed full of souls like Hereditary. I mean, this is how Devotees of Satan (2017) should be made. Both of these films have the same theme, there is something to do with the cult alias forbidden sect. Hereditary, the difference is, dare to take a definitive end. The story was concluded with the characters made circular closing. The mysteries and myths surrounding his sect were actually built. This film makes us afraid of what happens to the characters, not just fear of the ghost. Hereditary worked bravely and full of art, without sacrificing integrity. Everything works together to form a spectacle that I don't regret paying weekend prices. In fact, I want to watch again even though the price will rise again to double.
Hereditary understanding does not have to depend on sightings and ghosts that resonate. Of course, this film has a thick supernatural element. Appearance in a dark place, sounds that seemed to come from next to us, images that made the hair stand up, odd things, also blood and head pieces that rolled - even desperate to close up for almost a minute. But Ari Aster is a person who understands how the imagination works. What we don't see will be many times far more sinister, because this film allows us to squint at the blurred background or shadow on the wide shot corner and translate itself inside the head what we see. Not infrequently we do this by holding our breath, getting ready to be shocked by loud music. Every scary scene is designed to stem our fears and screams, but the film doesn't allow us to let it go so easily. Films cruelly resist fear, alertness, anticipation to the very end. Even when the movie ends, we will still be carried away anxiously and still shaken by the story.
I never thought the sound of "Klok" could swallow my gum
Talking about horror, means we talk about subjective things. Some things that are frightening to others, can be adorable for us, or vice versa. Except cockroaches. It's okay if you are one of those people who are more afraid of jumpscare, a shocking appearance, you prefer watching horror that the devil appears clearly in front of the camera with music vibrating the soul of the eardrum, so you can guess and shouted with friends. Or maybe you prefer watching horror like Hereditary, where we will rarely see ghosts, you prefer to feel the tense nuances that are generated, as in this Hereditary we will feel the powerlessness of the characters who are increasingly broken relationships in an effort to deal with terrible events that happened to them. The point is, Hereditary may not feel that scary for some people. Moreover, this film entrusts its heart to drama and does not easily expose mystery. A lot of misdirection in the second round which made us uncertain which film was moving in which direction, the end result was still hidden in the fog. We are made not know what to expect.
Even if it turns out that for you the film is less scary, I'm sure we can all be connected to what the characters experienced. Because the drama of family tragedy actually lies in the heart of this film. In events that can really happen to us in the real world. There is a wife who is so shaken and afraid of her family's past, she wants to run away and take her loved ones away from the past, but in the end she hurts loved ones. There is a father who tries to stay strong (and sane) because he knows he is the head of the family and the safety of the family depends on his shoulders. Some children who witnessed his actions led to a disaster so he did not know who to blame. Guilt and responsibility as they experience, of course, we also feel. Realizing we don't really have control over it honestly is something that is so scary for me.
Not many of us want to just admit what we have done. Finding what can be blamed is an easier step.
From beginning to end the film attacks us with horrible images and sound effects. An extraordinary acting performance that will guide us through all that. Alex Wolff showed his determination by banging his nose on the table in a scene that made me cool; Peter took control in the same class when he learned about arrogant humans because he was still trying despite seeing the outlined signs. The little actor Milly Saphiro was really a soldier role as Charlie, a disturbing boy. And he did that with a role that didn't say much. Amazing game of expression and gesture. Ultimately, I hope Oscar will be brave enough to appreciate horror films because Toni Collette's appearance as Annie will be in vain if it is not rewarded. He is challenged to do a lot of emotions in one scene, and indeed if this is done then Annie will be over-the-top. Toni managed to find a balanced point in his role playing, he made a change from normal to 'crazy' with a very phenomenal. The last two rounds were totally total as she played as a mother who had passed the limit of patience, breaking down her character was amazing.
Toni made his character so attractive that when he only talked about exposition, we were not bored. The story's exposure, dialogue that explains backstory and mystery, is almost an unavoidable aspect of a horror film. In Hereditary, as soon as Annie started the story of what happened to her mother's family in the past, I did not yawn, I listened diligently, because the film had set this character very well. I care about him, I want to know what has happened to him. And that's one way of telling the correct exposition elements; to care first of the character who told it, make it worth listening to.
It's not easy to find a balanced formula between mainstream spectacle and festival consumption. One of the best horrors of the year, he is an a rare example that managed to do it. He plays in the mainstream trope trope, there are apparitions and sects, and other aspects that have been raised by other films. It was the handling that was full of passion and idealism that made this film stand out. An artsy treatment, which we have never seen before. The family tragedy that was processed into a drama that can be related by many people who became the center of the film, made it also sturdy as an art house film. Because the horror that we get inside can really happen to our family. This is what makes it creepy, because once it happens we know we will not be able to run away from it.
The Palace of Wisdom gives 8.5 gold stars out of 10 for HEREDITARY.
That’s all we have for now.
Regarding what really happened to the Graham family, of course I have a theory. But I don't want to ruin your experience of finding your own theory or preventing you who want to dare to watch it. So, I didn't write it in a review. If you want a discussion, we can do it in the comment column.