Review: 'Hereditary' lingers and corrupts absolutely

During a screening of 'Hereditary,' the film was introduced as a different type of horror. Jump scares and other form of film manipulation stripped off to present its terrors. And true enough, the film indeed does not conform itself to conventions of the genre. Instead of just simply presenting something on-screen, it put its trust to the audience to seep in on the actions quite longer, and the result is a rewarding cinematic torture — which is essentially a good thing.

The film follows Ellen Graham (Toni Collette), a miniature artist, as she tries to move on from grief after the death of her mother. As she seeks help, suspecting elements slowly terrorize her family, rooted from dark secrets of her ancestry.

While these "suspecting elements" take the way in the film's final half, 'Hereditary' at its core is a family drama, putting the emphasis on the Grahams' dynamics on-screen as they struggle for loss and unmutual affection. As a film delivering supernatural, demonic elements, it is their relationship that weirdly end up to be the darker part of the story. We see Ellen progress as a mother unknowingly distancing herself from her family, and it makes up for most of the film's emotional grips and interestingly, scares. Toni Collette is potentially heading for an awards season favorite route for her performance as Ellen, whose arc never seems to be given justice, like her on-screen son Peter (Alex Wolff).

In the end, this film concludes on a hopeless note. The most tragic thing about this film seems to be the fact that there's no room for growth for its characters in the way they want to be. And that is great and pure horror. Scares can come from the least way you can expect it to come, and in this film's case, infused with heart-wrenching drama. And yes, that last fifteen minutes is a terrifying watch, but all of it works on the very foundation of the film's exploration of inescapable domestic tension.

'Hereditary' allows itself to linger on its story, and so the audience to the film. And it's a viewing experience that messes the fabric of genre expectations, and it is quite a corrupting delight to see unfold.

'Hereditary' is now showing in cinemas nationwide from Reality Entertainment.