Hereditary
by Ari Aster

Schizophrenia, Dissociative Identity Disorder, PTSD, abuse and neglect; these are just a few of the real life, disturbing subjects that Ari Aster covers in his recent release Hereditary. Starring Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd, Alex Wolff, and Milly Shapiro, this film is one that doesn’t hold back and truly terrifies from the inside out. This review will not contain any spoilers since it just came out last week and I can’t stress enough that if horror — specifically psychological horror — is your thing, then you need to go and give it a watch.

Annie’s (Collette) mother has died and it’s evident from the start of the film that her family is indifferent apart from youngest child Charlie (Shapiro). We learn that the grandmother was secretive and detached from the family during Annie’s cold, blunt eulogy and are given even more information about her family’s history of severe mental illness and abuse when she attends a grief counselling session.

Throughout the film we’re given…  (continue reading)