Film

Hereditary

Hereditary is less jump-scare machine than slow accumulation of dread, a family horror where grief curdles into something ancient and inescapable. Toni Collette gives one of the great unravelling performances in the genre. It's formally controlled, patient, and genuinely upsetting — for viewers who want horror that lingers and hurts rather than just startles.

TMDb rating3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burn dread that lets a family's grief curdle into something you can't name, and you trust a filmmaker to build unease through craft rather than jump scares.

Skip it if you want a brisk genre ride, since this runs over two hours and spends long stretches in quiet, heavy rooms where the mood is bleak and unhurried.

What it asks of you: Just over two hours of patience, a slow and grave build with little relief; it wants your full attention and a dark room.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Midsommar2019

Aster's follow-up swaps claustrophobic interiors for blinding daylight and grief for heartbreak, but the same slow dread and formal control are here — brighter, stranger, and somehow even more disturbing.

But Nearly as long, and the pastel folk-horror aesthetic can feel like style over substance if you're not on its wavelength.

Midsommar poster

The Babadook2014

A single mother's exhaustion and grief curdle into something monstrous in this Australian horror that treats trauma as a literal haunting — tender, exhausting, and quietly devastating.

But Low-budget and stagey in places; if you need slick production values, this will feel small in comparison.

The Babadook poster

Rosemary's Baby1968

The template for domestic paranoia — a woman slowly realising the people closest to her are complicit in something terrible. Polanski's control of tone is masterful and still unsettling decades on.

But The pace is deliberately old-fashioned, and some of its shocks have been softened by fifty years of imitation.

Rosemary's Baby poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Hereditary

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Don't Look Now1973

Same DNA as Hereditary: grief distorting perception until reality and prophecy blur, from a director unafraid to let dread build for an hour before the floor drops out.

A grieving couple in Venice, prophetic visions, and an ending still cited as one of cinema's great gut-punches. This is the film Aster has named as an influence, and you can feel it.

But Slow, elliptical, very much a product of '70s arthouse pacing — patience is required and rewarded, but required first.

Don't Look Now poster
More like this (8)

The Witch2016

Robert Eggers' debut is a family torn apart by isolation, faith, and something ancient in the woods — meticulous period detail and a dread that never lets up.

But The archaic dialogue takes adjustment, and it's more atmosphere than incident if you want things to happen quickly.

The Witch poster

The Shining1980

Kubrick's haunted-house film is really about a family destroying itself, with the ghosts almost beside the point. Every frame is composed like a trap slowly closing.

But Its glacial pace and clinical coldness put off viewers who want warmth or an emotional way in.

The Shining poster

Get Out2017

Jordan Peele turns social unease into full-blown horror with the same escalating dread, plus a satirical bite that makes it just as rewatchable as it is scary.

But Its commentary is sharper and more pointed than Hereditary's, so if you wanted pure dread over ideas, it lands differently.

Get Out poster

Relic2020

An Australian chamber piece about three generations of women and a house that seems to be forgetting itself along with its matriarch — grief and dementia rendered as haunting.

But Quiet almost to a fault; there's little conventional scare here, just mounting unease and sadness.

Relic poster

Talk to Me2023

A blunter, teenager-driven horror about grief and addiction that escalates with real nastiness — funny and mean in equal measure, with a finale that earns its cruelty.

But Less formally controlled than Hereditary — this one wants to shock you, not unsettle you slowly.

Talk to Me poster

It Follows2015

A low, constant hum of dread stretched across an entire film, built on a premise so simple it feels like folklore. Great use of space and stillness.

But The scares are about tension more than set pieces, so those wanting a bigger final swing may be underwhelmed.

It Follows poster

Krisha2016

It's Hereditary's engine with the supernatural stripped out — a family destroying itself under the weight of one person's unraveling, proving the drama was the horror all along.

A prodigal aunt returns for Thanksgiving and slowly implodes the family gathering in real time — shot and scored like a horror film even though nothing supernatural happens.

But No genre payoff at all — if you wanted the release Hereditary eventually gives you, this stays all dread, no exorcism.

Krisha poster

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father2008

Both understand that the true horror in family stories is inheritance — of trauma, of blood, of things you never chose — but this one proves it doesn't need a demon to destroy you.

A documentary that starts as a tribute and turns into one of the most devastating true stories about family, grief and cruelty ever put on film. Nothing supernatural — reality is worse.

But This is real grief, not fictional dread — genuinely harrowing, with none of the comfort of 'it was just a movie.'

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father poster

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