Ari Aster's Favorite Hereditary Scene Is Also The Movie's Most Unsettling
Ari Aster's "Hereditary" is a film about trauma, grief, and worshipping ancient demons. To those who've watched it, it is easily one of the most terrifying horror movies of all time. The film follows a family that is haunted by a supernatural presence after the death of their mysterious grandmother, who was the leader of a cult. It stars Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, and Milly Shapiro in the leading roles. It is a nerve-wracking experience to sit back and watch its events unfold — because Ari Aster knows how to shake his audience to their core.
While "Hereditary" relies less on jumpscares and instead focuses on inducing terror that is more psychological, the film has its fair share of horrifying scenes. And its darkest, most unsettling sequence is the filmmaker's favorite.
The scene moves its characters to a breaking point
In "Hereditary," every moment leads to something bigger, scarier, and unimaginably dangerous, and when it culminates into one terrorizing conclusion, it leaves the viewer frightened out of their wits. An hour into the film, siblings Peter (Alex Wolff) and Charlie (Milly Shapiro) are seen speeding up to a nearby hospital after Charlie has a severe allergic reaction at a party. Peter drives like a madman, and Charlie goes into anaphylactic shock. When she sticks her head out of the car window to get some air, Peter swerves, hitting a telephone pole, which rips his sister's head off. Yeah, I know. It's scary stuff.
It's a movie twist that changes its characters' lives forever. Peter ominously drives home alone with his sister's body in the back, not daring to turn around. In the early morning hours, their mother, Annie (Toni Collette), finds Charlie's body and shrieks in disbelief and agony, her screams echoing throughout the house. Instead of focusing on her — the camera stays on Peter's expressionless, troubled face. It's Aster's favorite scene in the film — here's what he told Vanity Fair.
"That's probably my favorite sequence in the film," the filmmaker said, "everything that's happening around those 15 minutes."
'I despaired of ever finding her'
Aster also talked about the young actors in the film, expressing how "relieved" he was when Milly Shapiro walked into the audition, for he had never imagined they'd cast someone so perfect.
"I despaired of ever finding her," Aster said, "just 'cause I knew the chances were slim that I would find somebody who would be right. And I remember when she came into the audition I was immediately so relieved—and then so excited."
Alex Wolff, who plays Charlie's older Peter, had to tackle a role as complex as his on-screen sister's. He was a young boy experiencing post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of his sister's death which he feels responsible for. Aster knew what he was asking of the young actor and commended Wolff for being able to do that effortlessly.
"You're asking a teenage boy to play P.T.S.D., and there's nothing worse than somebody' playing P.T.S.D.' It's just embarrassing ... I needed somebody who could really go there, and that's a lot to ask of a kid that age. And he really just ran at that part kamikaze-style."
"Hereditary," which /Film described as a "contender for the best horror movie of 2018," is a compelling, horrific story that showcases a family in crisis — perhaps one they can never find their way out of. Aster's film takes a deep-rooted sense of danger and restlessness and intertwines it in the lives of a family teeming with secrets. From the beginning, it gives us the idea that we're all small entities being manipulated by a more prominent, evil force, with an emotionally intense ending that pays off.