Hereditary. (2018). [film] Directed by A. Aster. USA: PalmStar Media.
Hereditary – Probably THE most terrifying film I have ever seen, and I like horror – is a truly horrifying and disturbing film due to how raw and real the pain of the characters is. The story deals with some of the most horrific aspects of life; loss, loss of a family member in the most unexpected and tragic circumstances and is part of what make this film as god-damn uncomfortable and hard to watch. I must say, I have never seen a film that has stayed with me as much as this one has, months after I was still having trouble sleeping, I was literally at the point of having a panic attack during watching this film. Although I did find it so hard to watch, and re-watch, I think the effect this film had on me makes it better and highlights the pure brilliance behind the making of this film. Through this blog I would like to discuss my personal opinions on this films as well as looking at a film review that I came across that I think helped me understand why I found this film so awful to watch. I also want to look into the editing, camera work and stylistic choices that were made to create the overall feeling and atmosphere of this film as there are many scenes of this film that have almost completely inspired me and my idea of night terrors.
My Opinion: As I have already mentioned above, this film terrified me, but it also heavily inspired me. There are so many aspect of this film I just love and so many scenes that, although probably had me crying or hyperventilating, I was equally in awe of. So, in this section, I would like to discuss some of my favourite parts of this film purely from a viewers standpoint, and rather than analysing it all too much, like I will in the 3rd section of this blog, I would just like to explain what I loved and how I felt about it. This film is very confusing to begin with, at first maybe you think it’s about mental illness and that will be the plot and what the ‘horror’ aspect will be revolved around, then you think maybe it will be just a very classic ghost story, when in reality, the film is actually a lot more complex and intriguing than either of these. The film bases much of its build up and horror on the loss of a loved one and the pain of a grieving family, even under the youtube version of this film it says; “Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.” And, I agree, this film is in a completely new ‘terrain’ and really does embody the trauma the characters are going through. Many parts of this film that I love are to do with the technical aspect that I will go through at the end of this blog, however I feel that the topic of the occult in this film is heavily important to the complexity of the plot and is also one of the main things that links my work to the research of this film.
Film Review: YouTube. (2019). Why HEREDITARY Broke Me. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JHXWUongeM&list=LLolc61ZL8Htxhci4vyDP0xg&index=4&t=0s [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].
First of all, this film review is called “Why HEREDITARY Broke Me” which I think accurately sums up the film and the effect it has on the viewer quite well; I personally have never watched a film review that completely dissects the reason we felt the way we felt why watching as this review did. Ryan Hollinger, the reviewer, explores the dynamics of the family environment, the individual characters, themes in the film as well as some specific scenes, for example, the scene of Charlie’s death. Although Ryan is just a film review channel on YouTube, I personally think no other reviewer has discussed the deeper perspective of the film as this man does, and through this discussion describes Hereditary as “a very aggressive therapy session”, which seems the most accurate description of how I felt about this film after viewing and reflecting on that experience.
While exploring one of the main topics of the film, loss and grief, he explains, “simply put hereditary could not have captured that destructive and suffocating feeling anymore,” this is probably the most accurate description of the atmosphere and how the film makes you feel, it truly was suffocating and made me feel trapped in the overwhelming universe of this film. He also talks about the two funerals that take place throughout this film and points to the clear contrast between the two, the first funeral for Annie’s mother Ellen is portrayed as an extremely uncomfortable and tension filled event that holds no sadness or warmth towards Ellen’s character. Where as the opposite is show in Charlie’s funeral, there is clear hurt and sadness in this scene despite it being a lot shorter than that of the first funeral, this scene doesn’t need to be very long or detailed to illustrate the clear love there was for Charlie’s character and the loss felt at this time.
Technical Inspiration: Technically speaking, in my opinion, this film is a true masterpiece and through the brilliant technical skills along side the impeccable acting, this film really “grounds itself in the cold erie atmosphere generated by death.”
Personally one of the best elements of this film and what really make it is the acting, the two main characters of the film, Toni Collette (Annie, the mother) and Alex Wolff (Peter, the son) were perfectly cast in this role to properly portray the agony the family experiences through the film. Although I do not plan on having much of a script, I am very heavily inspired by the use of the actors facial expressions and body language to convey the inner pain and turmoil they are experiencing. Toni Collette is especially good in this film and using subtle, and other times not so subtle, facial expressions to give the audience an idea of what she is feeling and/or what is going on in her head while she tries to piece together the mess that loosing her daughter, and becoming aware of the secrets her mother was keeping from her, have caused.
Alex Wolff also uses his subtlety in facial expressions too, but in a very different way, Toni tends to over dramatise her facial expressions which create a very disturbing and uncomfortable feeling for the audience whereas Alex’s expression is complete nothingness. This raw, confused and dazed pain he feels is shown so well through the ‘dead behind the eyes’ stare he is shown to have in many of the scenes, especially in the scene where his mother (Toni) finds her daughters dead body off screen. This style of acting really connects the audience to what this particular character is feeling and creates a complete feeling of utter heartbreak for the us – well, for me at least – as you can visibly see the shock and pain his character is in. In fact, in the scene where his sister (Charlie) is killed, Alex’s character performance was described by the reviewer above as, “some of the most incredibly raw, provocative and cosmically terrifying (ten minutes) I have ever experienced in a horror movie.” I may direct my actor to use both of these techniques during my short films as I think it brilliantly replaces the need for a script and, if done well, could create a much more impactful film for my audience.
The other aspect to this film that I am drawn too is the cinematic techniques, like camera work, lighting and editing, these 3 technical aspects are going to be some of the most important factors to making my short film come out the way I want it to and plan for it to and so wanted to look at this film for inspiration and ideas regarding them.
The first technical feature I would like to focus on is camera angles, the film uses some very basic camera angles, like extreme close ups and point of view shots but places them in a way that creates a completely different effect and helps convey the characters emotions and what they are experiencing more accurately. For example, around 37 minutes into the film there is a very extreme close up of the character Peters expressionless face while the screams of his mother are heard in the background, this shot lasts for a whole 30 seconds, which doesn’t sound like very long but in this context and with no changes to the scene, it seems to be a never ending shot. The scene then ends and a shot of character Charlie’s decapitated head appears in shot and is also on screen for and uncomfortable amount of time. The use of longer but more basic shots, but with audio of the excruciating screams of the mother Annie, I think really helps emphasise the traumatic event that has just taken place. I think I may use some of these longer close up shots of my main actress to try and convey the pain she is in before the nightmare sequence takes place.
Another camera angle I really like and may try to mimic in my own style is this one below of the mother Annie sleeping in the same place her daughter, Charlie, used to sleep. The shot starts as a medium close up and zooms out over the course of the scene to create a fairly ominous feeling and to make it seem like she may be being watched. I like the idea of using this shot in my work when my main character goes to sleep, I may fade in the sound of chanting to help switch to the next scene where she wake up in the middle of a cult ritual.
In terms of lighting, there are many scenes that have similar lighting to what I would wish to create in my short film, I think lighting is incredibly important in horror for creating the exact mood and atmosphere you want the audience to experience. I mainly want to focus on dim light/dark and cool toned lighting for my nightmare sequence and after she wakes up (to illustrate her difference in her view on things after having this ‘dream’) and then warm lighting but still fairly dark and dim lit for before the nightmare sequence. This film has many scenes with similar type of lighting that I think compare to what I want to create quite well and so wanted to use them as inspiration, a lot of the film is set at night and so has the type of atmosphere I am looking for for when I film the nightmare sequence and, before the death of daughter, Charlie, there are quite a few warmer looking, and feeling, scenes. Below are some examples of the different types of lighting in the different parts of the film.
I will be, most likely, using my ring light for my lighting in my scenes, my light has both a warmer and a cooler filter over it for the different types of lighting. I think this lighting will work 100% for my pre and post dream scenes but may be too harsh for my nightmare sequence as it doesn’t dim too much and is quite a bright and intense light. For my nightmare sequence however I will be wanting to use candles as part of my practical lighting so it may be the case that the candles plus some torches off set may work. I will of course be taking some test shots to test things like lighting and angles etc so will be able to have a better idea of what will work and what won’t by then.
I feel that analysing this film has been incredible useful for me in terms of gathering inspiration and I am hoping it will be of much use when it comes to starting to plan the more detailed visual aspects of my film. I would like to mimic some of the techniques I have described in this blog as I think taking inspiration from a film as technically and visually brilliant as this will, as well as a film with the ability to make the audience feel these emotions and experience what the same loss as the family, will greatly help me to connect with my audience on a level I have never been able to before in my work.
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Emily Bennett 