Details You Missed in Hereditary

Written By: Alexa Frederick

Photograph taken from Unsplash

Hereditary is a horror film known as Ari Aster’s first feature as a director. The movie follows a grieving family that becomes tormented by a demonic entity. After Charlie dies in a horrific car accident, the cult tied to Annie’s late mother manipulates Annie into inviting spirits into her home so they can use her remaining son, Peter, as a vessel. Considered one of the scariest horror films released in the past 40 years, and often compared to The Exorcist, the film earns that reputation through its bone-chilling depiction of grief and familial tension.

The film creates unease not through cheap jump scares, but through the unsettling use of darkness, shadow, and barely visible figures hiding within the frame. For example, Annie’s deceased mother appears in the shadows of her craft room, and cultists are frequently seen surrounding the house at night or lingering near Peter’s school during the day in brief and barely visible shots. They can even be spotted standing in cracks and crevices in the attic. Aster proves himself a master of crafting effective horror even in daylight, something he further explores in his later film Midsommar.

Prop work is also used to foreshadow future events. The cult’s symbol is heavily present throughout the film. Annie’s mother wears it as she lies in her casket, and the symbol is etched onto the telephone pole that decapitates Charlie. Joan, the cult member who befriends Annie during a grief support session, displays the symbol proudly throughout her home. The cult’s involvement is further foreshadowed when Annie sorts through her mother’s belongings and discovers rug designs that Joan suspiciously has in front of her door.

Aster goes even further by making the characters themselves feel untrustworthy. Later in the film, Annie confides in Joan about her sleepwalking episodes, revealing deeper tensions as she admits she nearly set her children on fire and resents Peter for being the one driving the car when Charlie died. As the film progresses, more secrets emerge, intensifying the sense of dread. The family’s remaining bonds begin to fracture, placing them in dangerously vulnerable emotional states that the cult exploits in order to claim Peter as their vessel.

Annie’s life story is depicted in incredible detail through the miniature she constructs, created by effects artists Steve Newburn. Some notable examples include a model of the bedroom where Annie’s mother attempts to bottle-feed Charlie, as well as an unsettling miniature of Annie’s mother standing in the doorway of Annie and her husband’s bedroom as they sleep. Although the miniatures recount key moments and dynamics within Annie’s family, they also symbolize how powerless the family is against the cult’s influence, as if they were dolls in a dollhouse with no free will against their fate.

Overall, Aster’s films are known for their intense attention to detail and depiction of grief and familial trauma, qualities that are even more glaring in his other works Midsommar and Beau Is Afraid. Despite mixed reviews and reactions, his films continue to be held in high regard within the horror fan community.