How accurate is the demon portrayed in the Hereditary movie?

In a previous post, Victoria Jaye analyzed how accurately the Conjuring universe portrays demons. But now she’s joining us to examine the accuracy —or perhaps inaccuracy?— of how demons are portrayed in another film. Specifically, the demon in the Hereditary movie.

And this may become a series Victoria does. (I hope.) For now, enjoy her analysis of the Hereditary movie.

Accurate Demon Horror Series: Hereditary
by Victoria Jaye

Ari Aster really did his homework for the Hereditary movie with the entity, Paimon, which is worshipped by demonolaters. Even Paimon’s real symbol is used throughout the film. His insight into the process of oppression is also impressive. Peter’s terror (and Annie’s) and how it attacks his perceptions through fear is pretty accurate. It produces a breakdown in most people.

I love his vision of this movie as a dollhouse with everyone as parts and pieces in their long-term game of bringing Paimon forth. These people are not people to them, but a means to an end, and truthfully, who benefits exactly?

Leigh’s note to Annie says that “the rewards will pale in comparison.” But the truth is, nobody in that family benefitted from anything that happened because they’re all dead now and/or possessed. If anything, it’s the demonolater group that will receive gains from the whole situation. This is the problem with making deals with things you don’t understand: your cost is usually greater than you know up-front.

Also, the movie is full of wonderful performances. Ann Dowd is a revelation in everything she’s in. I say that because I always believe her no matter the role. And Toni Collette’s performance is heartbreaking in her grief/anger over Charlie’s death. I do seriously hate how Gabriel Byrne’s character doesn’t believe his wife whatsoever, common in horror and real-life instances of demonic intrusion. (Men seem to be much less likely to believe in a lot of narratives.) What’s terrible is that she’s completely right about what’s happening.

Accurate

Almost everything in this movie is accurate, but here are specific things I wanted to address:

• Possessions have reported strange abilities like being able to crawl up walls.
• It is true that the most psychologically vulnerable is possessed/stressed and can become destructive when dealing with darker entities.
• Illusions do happen when dealing with higher-level entities like jinn and demons.
• The picture of Peter with the eyes carved out is a good representation of possession because the flaw is usually in the eyes where people notice something is wrong, especially when demons project themselves as human.
• The invocation performed by Annie was the invitation for this entity to come in, so it fits the Law of Invitation.

Inaccurate

• The infestation process is downplayed entirely; when it’s a demonic presence, things get very strange very quickly and one starts to witness many more negative miracles.
• Something I’ve said before about demonolaters is that it sounds more like jinn they’re worshipping because real demons don’t want to impart anything except death/fear to humans. The confusion appears to come from people mistaking the deities from the Bible as demonic.
• Demons are genderless so Paimon craving a male body is inaccurate if he is indeed a demon. Paimon sounds much more like a jinn from Islamic religion/folklore because they do have genders and it’s thought they imparted information to humans. If Paimon is indeed a demon, it’s not feasible for him to be entering a human body. Demons in human bodies make the body begin to break down from their presence, so this will all have to happen again soon enough (finding a new host/possession/ritual, etc.).
• Demonolaters inserting themselves in Annie’s family’s lives is a violation of consent and I’m sure makes them all feel (Annie especially) like they’re being steered towards something and tricked into something they never wanted for themselves/agreed to starting with the “sacrifice” of Charlie to release Paimon.

Guest Contributor Info

Victoria Jaye is a supernatural folklorist who specializes in the demonic. She graduated from USU with a Master’s in folklore; her thesis was a classification system of demonic phenomena organized by the senses. Her interests include demons, folklore/mythology, and horror movies. Visit her at demonfolklorist.com.

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