I had been meaning to watch “Hereditary” for a long time. I had heard so many great things about it, many people calling it one of the greatest horror films they have ever seen. With all the hype I had seen surrounding this movie, I had to put it on my watch list. This past weekend, I finally found the time to watch it. I have a lot of thoughts that I would like share regarding this movie.

This psychological horror film came out back in 2018 and it was directed and written by Ari Aster. The movie stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne, all of which play members of a family who are dealing with the loss of their grandmother. I was a fan of the film being shot in Utah because it provided some scenic moments and their house seemed to be in a desolate area. The plot of the movie definitely takes a little while to heat up, as I found the first hour of the movie very underwhelming at times. There are so many long shots consisting of eerie silence and slow pans. At first glance they may seem boring or drawn out, but I found these moments to be quite unsettling as it built up the tension throughout the whole movie. Although the first half of the movie wasn’t too exciting, it was necessary to build up towards the second half, which was everything you could ask for in a horror movie.

“Hereditary” was the complete horror film in my eyes. Not only are the viewers grilled with anxiety-laced anticipation throughout, but this film was legitimately horrifying. The movie was scary due to some chilling and graphic scenes, and it was frightening on a psychological level as well. Toni Collete does an outstanding job playing the mother, Annie Graham. Her emotional performance is perfect for the intense moments throughout the film. Annie’s trauma and psychological struggles are part of what makes this film so scary. I thought that the concept behind the film was very well thought out and definitely scary to think about. This is definitely one of those movies that you think about for a while after you are done watching it. I was also extremely impressed with the foreshadowing throughout the movie. Every little detail was carefully put into place to represent something bigger or foreshadow an event happening later in the film.

Overall, I would say that the film did live up to my expectations. I was a little skeptical during the first hour, but the second half blew me away. I also came to appreciate the first half more once I discovered what was actually going on in the movie. “Hereditary” was one of the scariest movies I have ever seen, but if you are up for the scare I would highly recommend it. I would give “Hereditary” a 4.5/5 rating.