- First Viewing June 2018
- Aster has clearly studied masterpiece horror works from the past. Collette’s character seems inspired by (and it’s an equally great performance) Ellen Burstyn’s turn in The Exorcist, the entire occult read and crowning in the end is unmistakably Rosemary’s Baby and I saw the Milly Shapiro “Charlie” character in the orange sweatshirt went to Roeg’s don’t look now (trademark red slicker in that film but close enough)
- Having said this- Aster has his own voice—and unlike the work of Polanski, Friedkin and Roeg—I see a little of Wes Anderson here in Aster’s work. He’s clearly obsessed with framing and symmetry. I greatly admire the connection with the diorama (obviously that’s Wes) and miniatures. It has real formal implications and connections (is this all artifice?, is it part of the greater statement of Collette’s powers? Her mother? Her family?)
- Aster moves the camera and edits carefully—the blending of the diorama to life in one scene (I’ll look for more with my second viewing). There’s really zero interest in shock or surprise
- It’s legit scary—but the film—like all great horror films—works without the horror. The domestic drama is excellent. Gabriel Byrne is woefully miscast—but Toni Collette more than makes up for it and Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro and Ann Dowd are strong in support. Collette’s highlight is the initial support group meeting monologue- quite stunning and she should be nominated
- Collette (and Aster for that matter) play it straight. There’s no winking, self-defeating gimmickry—it’s told with a dedication to disturb—it’s detailed and intense (that car sequence)—I think Aster shows a bit more promise behind the camera than Robert Eggers in his equally dedicated horror The Witch from 2015
viewing 2.0 – October 2018
- love Justin Chang’s review of the sad tale of a family in decline
- opens on a gorgeous shot of the tree-house within the frame of the window frame– stunning- it’s Wes Anderson or– better yet- Renoir– then we have a pan and a tracking shot matching into the miniature
- formal detail- the necklace with the symbol is shown throughout
- family drama- Byrne lies about the cemetery desecration- she lies about going to a movie- this is a family on the fall
- with a second watch I’m definitely blown away by Collette’s group therapy word vomit acting- unnerving- powerful
- lots of use of miniatures as establishing shots
- I’m still not sure if Collette is a sort of puppet master with her work on the miniatures- or if she’s a record keeper- or if its simply an outlet for her
- the allergy/car scene is a well crafted scene of grizzling intensity- the score escalates the action
- Ann Down is a revelation in support- played entirely straight
- shot going below ground as they bury at the funeral- Wes Anderson– heavy use of beautiful wallpaper
- oscillating between miniatures and real action
- It’s Lynchian in many ways– clearly an influence
- The Shining– the maze- is this real?
- Collette’s character has a split personality- “on and off again” with mom which she outlines. There’s pure economy in the script. Schizophrenia.
- old people who all need a living vessel like Rosemary’s Baby or Being John Malkovich
- final shot of Alex Wolff- unblinking close up with crescendo in the music- “Hail Paiman” like Rosemary’s Baby and then, so formally sound, end with a miniature
- HR/MS border- leaning top 5 of the year quality which would make it the best pure horror quite possibly since The Shining
Finally got around to watching this and it was very impressive
“It’s legit scary—but the film—like all great horror films—works without the horror.”
Agreed of this, been doing a horror film bender and this certainly applies to many of the best Horror films like The Shining and Rosemary’s Baby. It’s the building of tension, paranoia, and impending dread that really make many of the best Horror films so great
Aster is now 2 of 2. Hopefully he will keep it going with his next film Disappointment Blvd. (2023)
Fans of Horror should be excited by some of the young talent:
Ari Aster, 36
Jordan Peele, 43
Robert Eggers, 39
Brandon Cronenberg, 42
4 very promising Auteurs 43 or younger
Somehow in my post above I overlooked the rich irony of being optimistic about an upcoming film named “Disappointment Blvd.”
@James Trapp- haha this made me laugh here- good stuff
@Drake – thanks, but in all seriousness I’m definitely excited, not many directors start their careers with a 1-2 punch like Aster
@James Trapp- So true- I can count on one hand the number of directors whose next film I anticipate more (maybe Cuaron is the only one actually)
In case anyone hasn’t seen this, *spoilers below*
I also made this connection with the framing of certain shots a couple years ago. The characters are framed and shot to look similair to their dioramic counterparts. I definitely thinks it’s a larger statement on the relationship between the paimon cult and Annie/her family, and certainly meant to parallel the relationship between Annie and her diorama. The diorama are pawns of a much larger, more powerful controlling force that controls their fate (Annie), just like Annie is a pawn of a much larger, more powerful controlling force that controls her fate (the Paimon Cult). And we know they have this power based on the fact that the cult’s symbol was on the light pole that beheaded Charlie
I think this is extremely creative storytelling, along with being great formally and just nice looking
I remember coming up with this theory and reading a bunch of reviews to see if anyone else noticed this. I didn’t end up finding anything so I assumed I was the first to notice this. It was early in my film journey so I was quite proud of that haha. Guess I wasn’t the only one *shrug*
@Matthew – nice breakdown, I am already looking forward to another viewing; will keep this in mind. I think we might have discussed this on a different page but you should definitley check out Midsommar (2019) if you haven’t seen it. It is impressive in many of the same ways, very carefully constructed and even more ambitious visually.
Yea I caught it a couple hours ago. I’m a big fan of Hereditary, but Midsommar is *clearly* leagues above it. I still have some work to do for the 2010s but as of right now Midsommar would land in my top 10 for the decade. I think it’s right at the tip of the top for best achievements in color, production design, costume design, and more broadly compositions and form at large for the decade
I love all the hidden meanings, symbolism and mythological connections going on as well. I read some breakdowns of some of the murals in the back and it’s really incredible. Not on the level of say Magnolia or The Shining, but as far as the 2010s go I think it’s among the films closest to that level
Aster has emerged as perhaps the director I’m most excited about going forward (along with Iñárritu). He’s incredibly ambitious visually, takes huge narrative/conceptual swings, seems to be a magician at pulling out incredible performances for actors (female actors specifically), and is clearly very interested in the tiny background details that really seem to reward multiple viewings. (Which I do look forward to doing later down the road, despite it being such an uncomfortable watch for me at points lol, the images from that face mutilating scene where the elder face dives into the rock has stuck with me for a couple hours. Still didn’t disturb me as much as the beheading scene in Hereditary, that scene was crazy)