Hereditary!

I did not realize that I had totally forgotten to write a blog post for Hereditary until I went to publish the
one for I Spit On Your Grave, so here I go! 

This film scared me more than most of the other ones we watched this term but, as I was discussing with Alison, I think the ending just didn’t do it for me. I think the really fascinating and scary part of this movie was the dysfunctional relationship that Annie had with her son, or even the rest of her family for that matter. With the addition of the occult, especially so late in the film I felt just distracted by what was way more realistic and way more terrifying. The women in this film act as portals through which the men are tormented by Paimon, and once he has entered Peter is able to completely gain control. I think the idea of the monstrous feminine with the women themselves not being the perpetrators but just serving as vessels for the demon was interesting, but if that would have been explicitly introduced far earlier it may have been more effective. That being said, I think if I knew more about demonology I would have gotten more out of this film, because I do acknowledge that there is a ton of subtle imagery that is present from start to finish, but I totally missed all of that.