Hereditary
The brief
Ari Aster's debut feature crawls under your skin and stays there, building dread so methodically that you'll find yourself holding your breath without realizing it. Toni Collette unleashes something genuinely unhinged as a mother watching her family disintegrate, anchoring supernatural horror in raw grief that feels painfully real. The film takes its time setting up an atmosphere of creeping wrongness before delivering moments that will make you audibly gasp. If you loved The Witch or The Babadook - horror that prioritizes psychological terror over cheap scares - this will wreck you in the best way.
The verdict
If you crave horror that builds psychological dread through atmosphere and devastating family trauma rather than jump scares, this is an absolute must-watch that will haunt you for days. If you prefer faster-paced horror or get impatient with slow-burn storytelling, the methodical two-hour runtime will test your limits before the payoff arrives.
Watch with
- 👥 Horror fans who appreciate psychological terror
- ⚠️ Skip if you're sensitive to family trauma
Heads up
- Child death and endangerment throughout (extreme)
- Graphic decapitation scene (extreme)
- Self-harm and suicide depictions (moderate)
- Intense grief and mental breakdown scenes (frequent)
- Disturbing ritual and cult imagery (moderate)
Credits
- Director
- Ari Aster
- Cast
- Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd
We Reviewed This Film
Dive deeper into what makes this film special with our in-depth analysis.
Read Full ReviewOfficial synopsis
A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences after the death of their secretive grandmother.
The Double
Make a night of it
Pair this with Perfect Blue (1998)
Both explore psychological horror through family trauma and fractured identity.
Total runtime: 2h 07m + 1h 22m = 3h 29m
