What is the calculated structure of “Hereditary”, which has both freshness and seasonedness?

The secret of success lies in analysis and calculation

There is also a reference to the classic occult horror film " The Exorcist " (1973), which depicts an exorcism. Occult horror is a genre that depicts fear born from supernatural phenomena and fear rooted in religion. Roman Polanski's films such as " Rosemary's Baby " (1968), which portray heretical beliefs as a target of fear, and " The Wicker Man " (1973), which portrayed the strangeness of cult groups as a target of fear.

It can be said that every genre of horror film has been exhausted. It is becoming difficult to depict something fresh in this context. This has resulted in films such as " Scream " (1996) and " Cabin in the Sea " (2012) that analyze and generalize the genre itself. However, due to the nature of these films, they inevitably have a comedic meaning. This film carefully crafts a script that connects all the scenes together so that the story does not become stale, and at the same time, through this analysis and classification, it successfully extracts the "fear" of horror films.

“Hereditary” © 2018 Hereditary Film Productions, LLC

While borrowing the power of various works, it makes you feel one horror after another that is not bound by genre. This is why "Hereditary" feels both sophisticated and fresh at the same time. And by carefully calculating how to hide this structure, it has become a masterpiece that scares the audience to the core.

Text: Kei Onodera

A film critic who wanders around and writes for web media and magazines, aiming to become a movie hermit. We will convey the "deep" content of the movie in an easy-to-understand manner from various angles.

Twitter: @kmovie

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Hereditary

Released nationwide on Friday, November 30th at TOHO Cinemas Hibiya and other theaters.

© 2018 Hereditary Film Productions, LLC

Official site: http://hereditary-movie.jp/

*Information as of December 2018 article publication.