Gateway Horror for Brave Beginners | Hereditary Review

Somewhere over the Atlantic, I turned the page on an in-flight magazine and saw a picture of a girl bedecked with flowers with an indefinable expression that had grief and fear but that was so much more.

I was taken with it immediately. It reminded me of when my grandmother died and we covered her body with flowers from her garden. She and my grandfather had kept that garden for 50 years. Covered in flowers she felt more whole and it brought beauty to existential loss. The resonance there, I think, needs no explanation.

Also at that time I was married to an artist whose work had a lot in common with the images from the film. So for me, personally, there was a lot that the imagery connected to before I even thought to find a copy and press play—and while that is specific to me, it says a lot about image as art in itself even prior to narrative, or abstracted from it in frozen form.

So imagine my disappointment when I learned it was horror, the genre I was sure I could never watch without accruing some life-crippling trauma. I had enough trouble sleeping, I was very sure, and my insomnia needed no extra help.

About three years later I was living in London and my flatmate was watching Suspiria and I realized I was done being afraid of horror. It had become tiresome that Goblin was a favorite band but I couldn't be in the same room with the film it was from. So, along with Hereditary, Hill House, The Witch, and Suspiria, this was one of the first ten films that introduced me to the genre.

This film, all in the daylight, with its psychedelic trips that reminded me of my own experiences and its florid abundance next to moments of absolute horror lived up entirely to my expectations.

I'm writing this review now because it's time for a rewatch, and I would like to see a before/after and how it compares with my memory. And I'm writing a review that is as much about my experience as it is about the film itself because in this case, I think it would be impossible to try to disentangle the two.

There is no question that if you somehow have missed this film and you are even slightly drawn to the images from it, and you have some patience, you must watch this. I am skeptical that anyone will have missed it, but just in case.

In the meantime, I unabashedly recommend this as starter horror for people who enjoy visual art. Yes I know, it's meant to be scary, but that much beauty encourages sticking with it. This is a beautiful film before anything else comes into play.

And as for me, well, I'll see you guys after the Director's Cut!

Relevant Lists:
Gateway Horror for Brave Beginners
Horror Rewatch Time
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