Hereditary on DVD: Why it’s worthy of Oscars this year
By Blake Turck
You can now watch Hereditary on DVD, blu-ray, VOD, and other streaming devices. With the awards season coming up, is it worthy of Oscars?
In a play to make the Oscars cool again, it was announced this year that popular movies would have a place within the awards show. Though this was met with backlash, it was partly due to the huge success of last year’s biggest horror movie. Jordan Peele’s Get Out set a new precedence for mainstream horror. His best screenplay win catapulted the genre into the mass limelight. Though it’s hard to agree with “popular” movies as potential contenders it does open an interesting and exciting door for horror fans. Now that we can finally watch Hereditary on DVD and streaming devices, it brings one of the most brilliantly, terrifying movies back into the limelight. And brings up the topic again. Can a horror movie win big at an awards show? In this case, the answer should be a resounding and enthusiastic yes.
The movie itself is a triumph for the genre. Ari Aster’s screenplay is beautifully, and mysteriously crafted. You walk in thinking one thing and leave thinking something completely different. Good horror movies can make you think, but few can do what Hereditary did. It will completely change your mind, and leave you literally breathless. While Peele’s screenplay was a witty dialogue on race, and subculture, Hereditary is thought provoking in different ways. It speaks to our inner selves, our nature to assume what we think is predictable, and completely turns that all on its head. Seeing the film for the first time in a theater is an experience even serious horror fans will tell you was unique. But viewing Hereditary on DVD, at home, will be a totally different experience. One where the struggles and fears of family life can hit close to home, literally.
There are many strong female performances in 2018, and lots more to come. But few can match the power of Toni Colette in this film. She is nuanced, vulnerable yet strong, smart yet naive. Colette’s role as Annie, the matriarch of the family in Aster’s masterpiece is actually the stuff Oscars are made for ultimately. Every look, every twitch is meaningful and symbolic. The way she covers her hand over her mouth after saying regrettable things to her son is an example of that. It doesn’t feel like acting on a screen. It feels real, and raw.
When Annie attends a grieving support group after her mother dies her speech on her past is brutal to absorb. Her pain is captivating to watch. She’s not the most sympathetic character ever. Not close with her mom and not particularly warm with her daughter or son. There’s something brewing inside her, and we have to figure out what it is as the film reveals itself. Is she good, bad, a pawn or a player? We truly don’t know. At least at first. And that’s part of what makes this movie so special.
While most horror movies or movies in general give some of their plot or motivations up, hereditary does neither. Instead, it takes a common issue, family troubles, and turns that into a horrifying tale. One of betrayal, fear, and broken trust within the comforting walls of home. Home is a place where you should feel safe and loved. But in this movie, the idea of ‘home’ is much darker. Again, a theme that probably makes watching this on the couch, as opposed to a theater even that much more scary. What could be more exciting for the upcoming Halloween season?
Next. Netflix: The Ritual — A small movie with a bigger than life monster. dark