Hereditary Review: 6 Ups And 3 Downs

Downs...

3. The Convoluted, Disappointing Ending

The shock and surprise brought on by the revelations of the film's conclusion is quickly followed by a great deal of confusion. Numerous plot elements that were set up at various points throughout the movie come back into focus and then, before you know it, the movie's over.

This will likely be a hot topic of discussion with viewers as they decide whether the ending was a suitable finale to what came before or if it was out-of-place and confusing. Without spoilers, the final moments of Hereditary felt like it overcommitted to the supernatural elements, leading to the compelling realism that filled out most of the runtime being mostly ignored. In addition, the conclusion felt under explained as the only scene that offered primary explanation for it was a dialogue-free scene centered around reading excerpts from a book.

Connections between Hereditary's ending and the central story themes are there, but the chaotic nature of the ending somewhat masks that fact. This last sequence contrasts the rest of the film so much that it feels like a separate component rather than a logical next step for the plot. In addition, the seemingly minor plot elements that get randomly re-introduced (with far too little set-up) ultimately leads to a finale that was certainly crazy, but lacked the hard impact it could've had.