Board 8 > So the Hereditary topic purged but I saw it so hey (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

So uh yea, super super dope movie. I had a group in the theater that were shit talking it after they were coming out behind me, but I get it. It's not the typical big horror movie, I counted literally one jump scare which I love because jump scares are the absolute cheapest when it comes to horror most of the time. And it's not even a SCARY movie per se, the one word I think describes it best is "unsettling" which I really like.

First off, major props to the movie for killing Charlie off so early, the marketing made it look like a typical "mother and girl are connected, girl sees shit, they are the last two left at the end in some fashion". And that's such a horrid way to go out! Didn't even get the quickness of the beheading since she was already choking with her throat closing up.

And man that ending. I think for some people (like the group in my theater who were shit talking after) it would come off as cheesy and dumb, but I thought it was really effective. It was sort of surreal and somewhere I read said it was Lynch-esque, and I really dig that description. Bringing Charlie's head back, damn.

I think in hindsight the "twists" are pretty obvious but honestly I think that's ok. Eagle eyed viewers will guess it from clues and cues but I think the conclusion is satisfying enough to make that alright. Personally I was a little later to the twist that I think some other people might be, although I knew something was up with that Joan obviously. It was working out too well with the seance and everything.

I could keep going but I'm on mobile so I can expand later when I'm home, but yea I HIGHLY enjoyed it. And I think the more I think about the movie and let it settle after seeing it, the better it actually gets which is really nifty and I appreciate.
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Incredible movie for all the reasons you stated. The feelings of dread and tension it created were stifling.
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I think the thing I liked most about the movie was how it played with the trope of the unreliable narrator.

We see everything from the perspective of the mother and son, who we know from the start both have potential for severe mental disorders, so it's never clear if what we're seeing is being imagined by them or actually happening.

I fully expected it to go the route of either 1. The mother and/or son is crazy and is hallucinating everything or 2. they're sane and it's all actually happening. But the movie ultimately went with BOTH, which is a super bold move and really cements the movie's lasting impression.
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True true, it really goes back and forth. I'm glad it didnt just go the "she's crazy" route.

On another note seeing the audience score on RT is funny, going along with my infamous theater group
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Hereditary has a similar audience score to The Babadook and The Witch, so it's not surprising. Not enough jump scares and loud noises for some people
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KamikazePotato posted...

Not enough Blumhouse logos for some people

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Also can I say that the movie made the best use of 'creepy thing standing in the shadows' I've ever seen. It happened so often but it was chilling every time it did.
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Yo yea, last night going to sleep I had a thought like "WHAT IF" to the dark corners of my room
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I think the most impressive thing about this movie is how it makes you feel so uncomfortable. Like, even in the drama scenes and the dream sequence you just feel so god damn uncomfortable. The dinner scene in particular was just making me cringe the whole time because of how awful it was.

Then the little things they put in throughout the movie you just think nothing of, but after you see the whole thing it all makes more sense. Her brother killed himself because their mother was trying to force him into becoming this vessel. She said she was going to abort her son but her mother convinced her to keep him, but she still refused to let her be around her son. Her mother was obsessed with Charlie and being motherly to her in order to gain her trust to make her this vessel, because she knew she couldn't wait around for another boy in the family. So many details were so well done.

Then the clicking noise was such a simple and dreadful thing to use. It's chilling each time you hear it.

Then the way they make it so lighthearted for the beginning. They joke about being glad grandma is dead, the party scene, the mother using cutesy names to her daughter. And then it makes it even more shocking when Charlie dies.

And what I actually thought was really good too was when at the funeral, they make a note to show that one dude with a creepy smile that you remember because he was just weird and random. And then at the end when the son is looking around, you see this creep with a giant smile and you instantly connect it because they made a point to make that dude memorable.

It's a masterpiece and so well done in all aspects. I can't wait to see it again actually.
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Oh yea this is a bit more personal but my own mom died a few years ago and I have a little urn with some of her cremations, and when I got back from the movie I went over to it and said "Mom, God bless you, that you didn't pull that shit on me/my sister/my dad"
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Yeah, part of what makes the movie so disturbing is that that kind of family abuse stuff can happen even without demonic interference. Gives it that edge of feeling realistically disturbing, with the supernatural elements enhancing those feelings instead of being the only thing scary about the movie.

One minor issue I have: I don't 'get the dollhouse motif. It's featured do much that I feel like there's this underlying reason for it that I'm missing, but at the moment it just seems like something creepy for the sake of being creepy.
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I think that really could have more been for a fakeout of expectations, especially in marketing. I feel like they did just enough with it, as it was pretty much used as Annie's coping mechanism to everything happening. Sure they could have added extra scares with it but I think the movie was strong enough without that.
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It's worth noting that half an hour of this movie was cut, so they may have had more they touched on with the doll houses.
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Damn half an hour was cut? And it's already a fairly lengthy movie for being horror. Nice!
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https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hereditary-ending-paimon-explained-1119476

Cool little think piece
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https://mashable.com/2018/06/14/hereditary-ending-explained-everything-you-missed/#Cd8wjDLhLaqA

Also this one, although this one is much more surface level as it just lays stuff out. But hey it's there if you want.
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I hope the half hour is available when they release it on DVD/Blu-Ray. Would like to see what was missing.
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