Year after year, one genre continues to pull audiences into the lobbies of cinemas around the world. While its stars might not often be up for major awards, they are heroes to the fandoms who have their own terms for the best in the biz. With so many subgenres, horror has something for everyone. Although directors like Peter Medak and Nicolas Roeg began exploring the sub-horror-genre of family trauma decades ago in their films The Changeling and Don’t Look Now, respectively, the last decade has ushered in a brand-new lineup of directors exploring close-to-home themes. In 2018, Ari Aster made his feature-length directorial debut with one of these projects, a movie that will stick with viewers long after the credits roll. Are you filled with intrigue? Well, luckily, Aster’s breakthrough pairing with A24, Hereditary, is coming to one of the most popular streamers, as it will celebrate its Netflix debut on January 15.
In Toni Collette we trust, so, when it was revealed that the Academy Award-nominated actress would be dipping back into the pulse-pounding genre years after her world-dominating success in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, fans were stoked. Collette’s character, Annie Graham, carries a solid portion of the story, alongside Alex Wolff’s Peter, who is the son and eldest child of Annie and her husband, Steve (Gabriel Byrne), and the brother of Milly Shapiro’s Charlie. Not only is Annie dealing with the intense feelings of grief following the passing of her estranged mother, but tragedy continues to strike the Graham household through a bizarre and deeply unsettling death of one of their own. Also, genre icon, Ann Dowd, holds down a guest-supporting role.
Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, Hereditary holds a 90% critics rating. A financial success, the movie earned nearly $88 million at the global box office against its $10 million production budget. It also marked a milestone for the indie studio, A24, as it was the company’s highest-grossing film of all time until Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All at Once came out a few years later. Along with films like Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook and Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s Goodnight Mommy, Hereditary helped shape the genre’s next steps.
Ari Aster’s Next Project
Following the success of Hereditary, Aster dipped back into similar story patterns with 2019’s Midsommar and 2023’s Beau Is Afraid. Seeming to step out of the family trauma box, Aster’s upcoming project, Eddington, is being billed as a dark Western comedy — but we’ll see if he fully stays away from the themes that helped to launch his career. A star-studded cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, and Pedro Pascal will appear in the latest collaboration between the filmmaker and A24.
Head over to Netflix on January 15 to welcome someone else’s family trauma into your home with Hereditary.
When her mentally ill mother passes away, Annie, her husband, son, and daughter all mourn her loss. The family turn to different means to handle their grief, including Annie and her daughter both flirting with the supernatural. They each begin to have disturbing, otherworldly experiences linked to the sinister secrets and emotional trauma that have been passed through the generations of their family.
Release Date June 8, 2018
Runtime 2h 7m
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Budget 10 million
Studio(s) A24
Distributor(s) A24
English (US) ·