Hereditary Review: 6 Ups And 3 Downs

2. The Overly-Slow Burn Approach

As is the case with many of the more-effective horror movies, Hereditary adopts the slow burn method with its storytelling, taking its time establishing the characters and their individual relationships with one another. However, the approach, when applied to this film, feels a bit too drawn-out, particularly without much action or scares to out the majority of scenes. Because of this, you leave yourself wondering when the plot's going to jumpstart.

There aren't any stand-out scenes that should've been cut for sure, but there's definitely a number of sequences that, when looked at broadly, serve the exact same purpose story-wise. Any of these more-redundant scenes could've been replaced with anything that could've improved on certain weaker elements, such as further elaboration on what is brought to light in the third act. Improved characterization of Gabriel Byrne's father character could've helped as well, considering he feels the least-developed out of everyone.