Film Preview: Hereditary (2018)

Page Revisions:

(February 4, 2018) Original
(April 22, 2018) New Trailer (#2) / New Poster (#2)
(June 3, 2018) New Posters (#3-#6)

Release Date:

June 8, 2018

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.”

Poster Rating: B+ / C- / B- / C+ / C- / C-

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Review: (#1) If you haven’t seen the trailer, the poster design might not make as much sense as it should. The doll house concept works much better with the first trailer as an informative reference. The various elements situated on different planes adds a measure of surrealism, though the excessive blank black space is a weak point.

(#2) This design has absolutely no visual impact or creative energy, making it feel lifeless and pointless.

(#3 & #4) The French and English designs presented here use the same general images to compose with, but strangely, it’s the French design feels like it fits the film well where as the other is darker and less appealing. (#5 & #6) These designs are supposed to give a feeling of off-kilter bizarreness, yet they each feel like they are tortured attempts to be unique without being interesting.

Trailer Rating: B+ / B

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Review: (#1) While the reviews out of Sundance were astounding, the trailer does plenty of heavy lifting towards generating interest. Bizarre moments, horrific elements, and a mind-bending concept in the guise of a straight-forward horror feature each make this seem like a more compelling film to watch.

(#2) The suspense and oddness of the first trailer is less obvious in this trailer, which makes the film look more like a commonplace telekinetic horror film than anything else.

Oscar Prospects:

With the potential for a renewed interest in horror at the Oscars, Toni Collette could be a major Oscar contender for Best Actress even if the film doesn’t manage any other nominations, though an Original Screenplay citation is definitely possible.