Should You See Hereditary? (Short Answer: YES)
Hereditary received the low grade of D+ from CinemaScore, a movie tracking company that polls viewers during weekend debuts. The score contradicts the critics, who overwhelmingly loved the movie. So, what gives? Horror films are a tough genre to rate and to critique. Very few are critically acclaimed and audience appreciated. Film critics look for different elements when reviewing a film. Therefore, it’s no surprise that despite the low grade, Hereditary has a 93% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 60%.
Hereditary is this year’s best horror movie. Yes, you should most definitely see it—in the theater where you will share the experience with others.
However, you need to know some things before venturing into the theater.
- Hereditary slowly builds to the horror. Some may find the first hour boring as it is filled with a lot of dialog and back-building of family dynamics.
- Hereditary runs just over 2 hours and is rated R for graphic images, language, drug use, and nudity. Ari Aster, in his directorial debut, cut out an additional 60 minutes of film. Expect those to be in a director’s cut version when released to streaming services and DVD.
- Ancestry plays a large part in the film. Pay attention to the earlier references.
- Toni Collette’s character “Annie” is a model maker. She builds miniatures. Pay attention to her miniatures. There are clues there.
- The film is a low-budget movie. Yes, a $10 million-dollar production is considered low-budget. There aren’t a lot of CGI effects.
- The film unfolds as a drama. Stick with it. You will not be disappointed. The last 15 minutes are going to blow your mind.
Finally, Hereditary beat market expectations and grossed over $13 million in its opening weekend. This is the largest opening for the small studio, A24 Productions. Hereditary is not a slasher, jump-scare-filled, predictable horror movie. I found it to be a cross between Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Omen (1976). Still, it stands on its own and worth your time.
#MovieMonday
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Curious to see this one. I had my reservations because it was from the same guy who did The Witch, which I still have’t seen because I’ve been waiting to stream it. (A good friend with similar tastes told me I’d be disappointed if I paid theater prices so…that spoke volumes. But then reading Twitter reviews when it came out also gave me a good idea to wait.)
This one started off with a 70-ish% audience score in Rotten Tomatoes, but by weekend’s end it was hovering at 63%. My husband was curious so he found some review on YouTube and it had major plot spoilers. (And if there’d been a warning I missed it!) He was trying to figure out if this was one he could “suffer” through with me (suffer because my hub is NOT a horror movie lover…he hated A Quiet Place. I feel I’ve used up my “Come see this movie with me” card until October so…lol)
However, after reading this? I think I’m going to ask a friend if she’d like to catch a matinee with me. You’ve got me intrigued!!!! THANKS for your review!
Your husband probably won’t like this one. Good thinking on asking a friend!