10 Horror Movie Scenes You Didn’t Realise Were Tricking You

Of the many stunning visual choices made by Ari Aster in Hereditary, one of my favourites has to be his masterful use of darkness and ambiguity. It’s a running theme throughout the film that in the dark, characters think they are seeing figures. Plenty of shots are obscured and haunting, low-lit to the point that encourages our brains to fill in the blanks.

From Annie’s workroom where you are sure you can see a standing woman across the way, to Peter’s bedroom where for a moment you could swear a long-haired woman is sitting facing away from him in a chair, as an audience we become accustomed to seeing things that aren’t there.

By repeatedly showing our shadowy figures to be nothing more than imagination, Aster creates a bias in our minds as the film goes on - effectively leading us to divert our attention elsewhere. The result is that when, near the end, the figures in the dark become real, we don’t notice them at first.

Not fully noticing them, but perhaps being subconsciously aware, we are tricked into feeling a deep sense of dread; we’ve been programmed now to not fear the dark corners, and now suddenly we have reason to be scared.

When possessed Annie lingers in the corner of Peter’s room, and when naked cult members stand in unity around the family home, this slow-burn trick truly pays off and we are launched into white-knuckle terror.