This Is Director Ari Aster's Favorite Scene From Hereditary
When audiences first sat down to watch "Hereditary" back in 2018, they had no idea just how much terror they were in for. If you haven't seen the film from director Ari Aster, it follows a family who are haunted by disturbing circumstances after the death of their grandmother, and from there it's a descent into madness for everyone involved. There really is nothing else like it.
Visually, Aster treats the family home much like the miniature house being worked on by Toni Colette's Annie Graham in the film, as the camera often blends shots from inside the model to the real house. There's plenty of subtext to dive into there, suggesting that much like the miniature models in Annie's house, the family themselves have no control over what goes on around them. Why? Because they're being manipulated by the demonic cult that their grandmother belonged to.
It's a very intense watch — not one to sit through alone at night. We learned our lesson on that one the hard way. Although it isn't a complete gore-fest, when things do get bloody, Ari Aster takes it to the extreme. Unsurprisingly, there's one moment that's his favorite scene in the entire film. Can you guess what it is?
Ari Aster's favorite moment is also the film's most infamous
Oh, yes. Ari Aster loves the moment where Peter Graham (Alex Wolff) drives his sister Charlie (Milly Shapiro) to hospital after she goes into anaphylactic shock at a party. In a desperate attempt to get some air, she sticks her head out of a car window just as Peter swerves to avoid a dead deer ... and Charlie gets decapitated by a telephone pole. It is hands down the most memorable scene in the film, because killing a child within the opening 30 minutes is a very, very ballsy move from the director.
The act itself is horrific to see, but what makes it all the more harrowing is the fact Peter calmly drives home with Charlie's headless body in the car and doesn't alert anyone to what's happened. It's traumatic to say the least, and hearing that blood-curdling scream erupt from Toni Colette when she eventually discovers Charlie's body is even worse. When speaking to Vanity Fair about the film back in 2018, Ari Aster explained, "That's probably my favorite sequence in the film, everything that's happening around those 15 minutes."
The director clearly has plenty to say about how we process grief and trauma, because his 2019 follow-up, "Midsommar," starring Film Twitter darling Florence Pugh, also explores just how much loss can devastate a person. And although the folk horror is an undeniably unsettling watch, "Hereditary" is one of the most disturbing films of the last few decades.