This decade has been a defining one for indie horror movies that has culminated in a number of historic Oscar nominations for Jordan Peele's Get Out. The likes of The Babadook, It Follows, The Witch, and The Conjuring have produced some of the most imaginative scares in years. But during this year's Sundance Film Festival, early screenings of Hereditary had critics already labelling newcomer Ari Aster's film one of the scariest in years.
AV Club called it the "most traumatically terrifying horror movie in ages." Variety said it "is a domestic thriller about the scariest ghosts of all: the spirits within." And The Hollywood Reporter said it is "two breathless hours of escalating terror that never slackens for a minute."
Along with being absolutely terrifying, critics are already considering it for early Oscar consideration. Variety's Owen Gleiberman wondered why the film wasn't included in the drama category, where more serious award contenders are considered above genre films; he writes the film "deserves to be in the Oscar conversation, even if it comes in a brutal genre movie that’s unlikely to find traction with Academy voters for a variety of reasons." Specifically, critics are praising an "astonishingly good" Toni Collette in the film's lead.
But with Get Out a strong contender for this year's Oscars, it's hard to say what is able to get traction with the Academy.
One thing is certain: Hereditary looks scary as hell. It's due out on 8 June.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
