An elderly woman dies, leaving behind a lifetime of secrets — and a malevolent legacy that terrorizes her family. Hereditary, the psychological horror movie from director Ari Aster (Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid), follows the Grahams in the wake of her death as they grapple with sinister forces beyond their control. Starring Oscar nominee Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, and Milly Shapiro, the film was Aster’s feature debut and premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. 

“I knew that I really wanted to make a film about the corrosive effects of trauma on a family unit,” Aster told Vox after the film’s US release. “I knew that I wanted to make a film that had sort of an ouroboros quality about a family that’s basically eating itself in its grief.”

When will Hereditary be released?

Stream it now.

Who’s in the cast of Hereditary?

• Toni Collette (Juror #2) as Annie Graham, an artist
• Gabriel Byrne (Maniac) as Steve Graham, Annie’s husband
• Alex Wolff (Oppenheimer) as Peter Graham, Annie and Steve’s son
• Milly Shapiro (Hysteria!) as Charlie Graham, Annie and Steve’s daughter
• Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale) as Joan, who attends group therapy with Annie
• Mallory Bechtel (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) as Bridget, Peter’s classmate

What happens in Hereditary?

Fine artist Annie Graham (Collette) struggles to show any emotion while eulogizing her mother, Ellen, who just died at age 78. Annie’s complicated relationship with Ellen, who lived with the Graham family, features heavily in the miniature dioramas she makes, which showcase moments from her life. 

After her mother’s funeral, Annie buries herself in her work, or tries to, and begins noticing strange things happening around the house — Ellen standing in the shadowy corner of a room, her mother’s always-closed bedroom door left wide open — and she’s not the only one. Annie’s youngest child, Charlie (Shapiro), with whom Ellen had a close relationship, is acting even stranger than usual. And with everything going on, there’s added pressure on Charlie’s brother, Peter (Wolff), and their dad, Steve (Byrne), to maintain normalcy. But soon, whatever — or whoever — has cursed this family plunges them into a deadly spiral. 

“I always knew I was making a film that was potentially very alienating,” Aster told NPR in 2018 about Hereditary. “It is a film whose primary aim is to upset the audience on a deep level.”

Is Hereditary based on a book?

No, it’s an original screenplay. 

Where was Hereditary filmed?

The movie was shot in Utah. 

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