Hereditary (2018) * * *

Directed by:  Ari Aster

Starring:  Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Ann Dowd, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro

Until roughly the final 20 minutes, Hereditary was a slow burn, but an effectively creepy thriller.   We watch in anticipation to what it is building toward, and then are let down by a final act which doesn't live up to the slowly rising crescendo of suspense which led up to it.    For most of the film, Hereditary is an absorbing supernatural thriller in which we know something is wrong, but we aren't sure what, and we are hooked in to find out.    Even in a story laden with terrifying images and bizarre happenings, the ending simply flies off the rails, but Hereditary has enough satisfyingly horrifying images and wonderfully nuanced performances to pull it through.   

I will tread lightly on the plot details, because part of the initial suspense is watching the story's events unfold and evolve.     The first image we see is of a death notice.    A 78-year-old woman named Eileen Leigh died at age 78.    There is nothing unusual about the death notice itself, but we soon learn of the complicated legacy she left behind.    Her daughter Annie Graham (Collette), an artist who creates miniatures and dollhouses, gives a cold, but honest assessment of her relationship with her mother at the funeral and at a grief therapy group meeting.    They were estranged, and Eileen had a habit of doting on her younger granddaughter Charlie (Shapiro), while ignoring older brother Peter (Wolff).    Why is this?   

Annie is not without her own issues.    She has a history of sleepwalking and perpetuating violent acts while doing so.    A second horrific accident not long after Eileen's death further destabilizes Annie and her long-suffering family, which includes husband Steve (Byrne) who tries to be the family's rock but we see even he has his limits.    The entire house is engulfed in odd ghost sightings, hordes of insects, and other oddities which can't be explained.     A helpful friend, Joan (Dowd) introduces the art of séance to Annie which works so well that Annie probably wishes she never opened the doorway to the great beyond.

Peter is seemingly the victim of the bizarre happenings, but maybe the entire family is targeted.    We don't know for sure, but Hereditary at least keeps us involved.    The quiet dread established here is eerily reminiscent of The Sixth Sense (1999), and both films starred Collette.    Collette does such impressive acting with her facial expressions that dialogue is not needed.     If you recall her key scene in The Sixth Sense, she conveys the emotion of the moment with a quiet cry and looks of total bewilderment over what her son is telling him.    Collette's Annie is consumed by grief, to be sure, but tries doggedly to move forward with her life in the face of two family deaths.    It is an impressive performance.  

The film's trickiest emotional scenes involve what is said and not said by Annie, Steve, and Peter in the event of the second death.    The family walks on eggshells as it tries to hide its resentment, pain, and does its determined best not to blame each other...at least at loud.    I suppose the ending follows a sort of logical conclusion of the events leading to it, but it doesn't quite fit or feel worthy with what transpired before.    Maybe there was no perfect way to wrap things up, but Hereditary was on pace for something extraordinary and instead wound up being suspenseful, ghastly, and wishing it had ended about 15 minutes sooner.