HEREDITARY (2018) Movie Review

Having an understanding of Ari Aster's style, Hereditary's context develops in light of its creepy sibling, Midsommar. While Midsommar focuses on the theme of overcoming a toxic relationship, Heredity is a story about a family's struggle to overcome grief. However, something much darker and more serious plagues this strange family of four.

They are cursed with mental illness, which curses three generations of women. Annie's mother passes it to Annie who passes it to Charlie. Steve who marries into the family seems to be the voice of reason. However, he struggles with his ability to lead the family when it reaches rock bottom. He lacks a backbone.

Peter, on the other hand, is the only member of the family with a fighting chance to have a normal life. He strives to have a normal social life at school and experiments with drugs. For the most part, he is normal. His major problem, the force holding him back, is his mother who traumatizes him time and again as she increasingly unravels in her fight against her mental illness. Peter's struggle is one of experience, not his bloodline. He is a "healthy male".

Annie expresses from the beginning that her family has a long, disturbing history of mental illness. She tells the story of her attempt to escape her mother and avoid mental illnesses. Though she attempts to appear like the survivor of the family's legacy, her completely erratic behavior throughout the story suggests otherwise. She lives life in a constant state of paranoia believing that people blame her for something. Eventually, she makes the irrational claim that she is a medium, able to talk to the dead.

She doesn't even want to have children, and she completely checks out as a mother. Thus, she grasps at the chance to get her children out of the house, even when neither wants Charlie to attend a party where she clearly doesn't belong. She spends all of her time building diagrams that reflect her disturbing take on the world. Worst of all, she has an incredibly frightening episode where she attempts a murder/suicide by fire. She tries to burn children and herself alive.

It begs the question: Why does she have children is she doesn't want them and lacks the mental capacity to raise them?

It is Peter who must overcome the family legacy. He, fortunately, takes after his father. He relates to his father more than his mentally challenged mother. While mental illness destroys each member of this family one by one, he must survive. The only way can overcome is through repentance. He does what no one else in the family is mentally capable of doing.

"I'm sorry."

Through repentance, he finds a way to rise above his trauma and stand victorious. He is crowned as the healthy one. He survives his family legacy, guilt, and grief. Above all, he overcomes his mother's hatred.

Why do people have children when they lack the will and capacity to properly care for them? It leads to suffering and trauma. It's a drain on resources. The solution is simple. If a person is suffering, the easiest way to end the legacy is to stop it in its tracks. If you can't handle the responsibility, then don't bring the responsibility onto yourself.

Don't have children.