If you’ve listened to our review of A24’s newest horror offering, “Hereditary,” directed by Ari Astar, then you know how much I hated the film. The experience of watching this in the theater was frustrating. I often felt bored due to the tedious nature of most of the scenes, editing and run time. Upon reflection, however, I found the resonance of what I heard affecting. The echo of which has caused me to reexamine this film. 

I understand this movie was as much about grief as it was about its horror elements, but I think that is where a lot of the problem lay. Grief is something that–especially when it comes to loss–we don’t get over but ultimately have to incorporate into our being. Grief is also tedious and exhausting.

A thriller–and I’ll use thriller since “horror” has its own violent connotation–should have a heart and it was risky taking on grief as a backdrop. I appreciate that risk. In this film however, the two never quite gelled for me. I kept feeling as though I was watching two movies. The grief parts bored me and the “scary” parts made me chuckle.

In other words, the film kept losing me, and eventually I simply didn’t care about the characters.

In fairness, I think my review was more a visceral reaction than a fair critique of the movie’s narrative structure. Our MOTS system was developed in order to judge a piece of work on it’s narrative structure leaving the visceral assessment for the recommendation.

I gave the movie’s narrative a “0” because I was so angry about my movie-going experience. Upon reflection, the film did have much to offer. However, the film’s pacing affected the narrative enough that I just wanted it to end. If I were I to rate it today, I’d actually give the narrative structure a “1.”

That score may be damning with faint praise, but the narrative rarely had my full attention. Still, I’ve had a difficult time letting this movie go from my thoughts.

I really wanted to like this movie because all the elements for a great move are there. And yet, I found the trailer scarier that the film, which reinforces my pacing argument.

During our review someone brought up how great the sound design was in this film. I agreed and that was one area I gave it a “1.” I believe we all agreed this was the strongest aspect of the film.  

I call this blog “Narrative Timbre” since timbre is essentially the color of music. It is the pitch, intensity of the vocals, the orchestration, the choice of key and all those things that musically create a narrative apart from any lyrical influence. Up until now I have focused on the musical score of film and have not touched upon sound design.

I do not remember the musical score to “Hereditary,” but I remember sound design and it’s time to bring that into this blog.  

As with the musical soundtrack, sound design is a subtle art. It needs to give other colors to the visuals but is never seen. The audience needs to know it’s there to add that atmosphere but it also can’t take you out of the film’s narrative.

One ephemeral example of sound design I thought was great was the sound of the older sibling, Peter, dropping his bike on the driveway. A bizarre example to be sure, but it did match the tone of the scene and the brightness of the bike’s color. I also needed a general example because from here on out I’m going to spoil this film.

Spoilers now!

Charlie is the younger of two siblings in the film. She creates this clicking sound as one of her character’s personal ticks. This was a characteristic the film establishes from the beginning with a close up of her face so that the audience could see her tongue striking the roof of her mouth to make the sound.

From the very beginning Charlie’s “clicks” were jarring. They were that itch you couldn’t scratch and wish would go away. They were kind of annoying and that was intentional. Eventually it became a natural part of her character, but it never lost that jarring aspect and was something I just tried to ignore.

Her clicks did break the fourth wall, but I think that was intentional.

Once Charlie was out of the picture, however, it became an echo of something ominous.  Ian commented–I am simultaneously paraphrasing and reinterpreting here–that the clicking sound the little girl was actually the jumpscare of the film. Most scary movies usually rely on visual jumpscares. I have to admit, the film’s use of sound in this manner was clever and quite effective.

The sound designer would pan the direction the sound would occur based upon the character’s position in whatever setting they were in. Sometimes it would be behind you, sometimes to the side. The point was, this was a character the audience could not see in any physical form which added to to the suspense because there was never any resolution where the click had originated.

One other piece of sound I found effectively jarring was during Charlie’s death, the significant event I spoke of earlier. Not only was her death unexpected, as it seemed she was would be the direct physical focal point of the film, but the manner in which she died was likewise shocking. She was decapitated when she collided with a telephone pole as she stuck her head out of the window of a moving car. This event happened when Peter was speeding to the hospital in order to save her life and swerved to miss an animal carcass in the road.

Her death was shocking. You see her face, a quick cut to the pole in front of her, and cut to black as you heard the “thump” of collision. I have to admit, the sound was a big part of what startled me. It made me jump and—for that moment—I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. It was equally effective because by that time in the film, she was the only character in which I was invested.

At its heart, “Hereditary” is a thriller in the league as films such as “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Don’t Look Now.”  

Despite what critics say, this film is nothing like “The Exorcist” in either story or execution. But, like “The Exorcist,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “Don’t Look Now,” It can be argued that “Hereditary” is as much a drama as a thriller.  

Once again, for a movie I hated–at least on a visceral level–I have not been able to let it go from my thoughts.

For me, the effectiveness of the sound design is without a doubt the strongest element of this film. In fact, it is so strong that Charlie’s “click”  carried through to my daily life, if you will allow me this indulgence.

I was at the supermarket several days after I saw this movie grabbing lunch. It was broad daylight and the store was noisy and crowded. From behind me I heard Charlie’s “click.” I literally jumped–almost dropping my lunch–as chills ran through my body.

I quickly turned to see that a mother was making “clicking” noises to distract or refocus the attention of her infant child who sitting in the front of the cart.

Those chills followed me past the register and into the sunny warm air.

“Hereditary” has its problems and it could have easily had at least 20 minutes removed from it. However, it did affect me. If you have made it this far and still have not seen it, I must recommend that you do see it before it leaves the theater because–unless you have a surround sound in your living room–I don’t think you’ll be able to fully realize or experience the most effective part of this film. Even if you are bored by the film, the sound will leave you with a lasting impression

Revised score: 5

–Chris Morgan, June 2018