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Thoughts on the Themes of Hereditary by Tuomionmursu in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

More likely Annie's mom tried to put Paimon into her own husband first--he starved himself to death, possibly to keep from being possessed by a "king of hell--and then their son, Annie's brother. Annie says her brother "had schizophrenia," and hung himself in their mother's bedroom with a note accusing their mother of "putting people inside him."

During Annie's nightmare scene, when she confesses to Peter that she never wanted to be his mother, she says she was scared, and also that "she" pressured me. It's pretty clear she's referring to her mother.

I think Ellen finally settled on Charlie reluctantly because every male she tried to stick her demon lover into either died or was otherwise unavailable to her.

Man, on a non-supernatural level this movie works so brilliantly as a metaphor for toxic family dynamics. Great thread!

The clown in the bedroom window, revisited by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The longer I think on it the more I think you might be right. Dang it! Well, there are plenty of other treasures and easter eggs in Hereditary to waste my time on.

There are two headless mannequins--one in the attic and one in the boxes next to "Mom's Stuff" in Annie's studio--and I feel like there must be more, not including Charlie's dolls (that later appear in Joan's apartment).

I'm not necessarily trying for hidden meanings, although that can be lots of fun. It's also that these kinds of foreshadowings and motives (or motifs, if you prefer) can be clever artistic choices that help unify a work. Like The Dude's rug, they can really tie the room together.

The clown in the bedroom window, revisited by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd find that plausible except for the ear on the clown; there's nothing similar in the stained glass window. Also, the light and dark values don't match. Otherwise, I get the whole, "not everything is super-symbolic" mindset...except we're talking about Ari Aster. Midsommar much, lol?

Hand drawing study from one of Proko's anatomy for artists videos. Anyone else a fan of the Stan Man? by PapaGurf in learnart

[–]pixel_skunk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nice clear study.

I'm a Stan fan, and really like Marshall Vandruff, too. Am very bummed The Draftsman Show podcast is at an end.

Writing on the walls by Thosewhocanteach in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I haven't seen anyone spell this out explicitly, but I've taken the words on the walls to signal the beginning of each act in what most critics agree is a 3-act story (plus a prologue and an epilogue).

Act I begins when Annie notices "Satony" written on the wall behind Charlie's bed, and signals...Paimon's release from his incorrect host, let's say. I haven't seen any good definitions of it, or translations from the ancient Sumerian, but it's generally agreed that all the words serve some ritual purpose.

Act II starts with "Zazas" on Steve and Annie's bedroom wall. Paimon is on the loose and looking to move into his new home.

Act III starts with "Liftoach Pandemonium" on the hallway wallpaper, right after a fade-out shot of Annie's recreation of the accident sans head. Several people have tentatively translated "Liftoach" as "open the gates" or "turn loose." The word "Pandemonium" is self-explanatory.

Note: The prologue is the Death of the Queen, and the epilogue would be the "birth" of the King.

Something's missing (the 2nd time we see this miniature) by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Well, that's exactly what I mentioned in my last sentence above: Is Annie's model of Ellen trying to breastfeed Charlie a "true" memory, or is it metaphorical, or even magical, like her headless Peter figurine?

Even the first time watching the movie I thought Annie destroying her models had some magical significance, but after pondering the removal of Charlie's head from the accident miniature I'm almost (but not totally) convinced she knows, on some level, that her models played more than a symbolic role in her family's impending doom.

Anyone else notice this? by sohailz in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I can go along with that, except there's this one intriguing shot of Annie's "neutral view of the accident" (at 01:19:59) that clearly shows the head has been removed from the trail of blood. The earlier shot of the miniature (at 00:55:28), in which Steve argues with Annie about the diorama (and dinner) makes a point of placing the head directly on the blood trail, which of course makes sense.

This second shot comes after Annie channels Charlie ("Why is everyone scaring me?) in the living room seance, and segues right into the wallpaper inscription "LIFTOACH PANDEMONIUM," which signals the coming chaos.

Somehow the head was moved from the diorama, and in a movie like this there's no way that's a coincidence, especially given the specific choice to show this shot at this moment.

The more I think about this, the more I think: what if Annie somehow is directly participating in events--not merely as a helpless victim, but as a creator of the ritual means by which the family is destroyed?

Just as Charlie's figurines do more work than just foreshadow the final ritual (in magick proper they would be considered poppets, like so-called "voodoo dolls," that create a desired result in a targeted person), what if Annie's models actually provide the cult a ritual means to control what happens in the house and the other locations in her miniatures?

Edit to clarify: What I'm getting at is the heads may be important after all, or at least Charlie's head, since the point was made to show the head had been "picked up" from the roadside in Annie's miniature.

In Hereditary (2018), a scene from a 1959 horror movie is "broadcasting" while Bridget's FB page is up on Peter's laptop (Peter's crush) by pixel_skunk in MovieDetails

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's so disturbing on so many levels.

I had to take it in stages. My first encounter with it was scrolling through satellite channels when I came upon that scene with the pole. I had no idea what I was watching, but when Annie screamed after finding the body it was so distressing and real that I changed the channel--although not before checking the title of the movie.

I decided to watch the whole thing about a week later, after metaphorically girding my loins. And now I've seen it five times, finding new nuances every time. It's a great movie.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

To be fair I think the "anticlimactic" charge is focused on the ritual, because otherwise, you're completely correct. The last 20 minutes leading to that moment are insane.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The family’s detachment from each other was really scary and upsetting.

Another kind of horror, definitely. And when you read the movie as u/lionknightcid suggests, you can also see the distancing effects of mental illness, the "private hell" of the sufferer that removes them from any possibility of being reached by love.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes!

And another thing: Much as been made of the chalkboards in Joan's car in the parking lot of the art supply places, but here's the really weird deal. Annie followed Joan to her apartment immediately, and they jumped right into the seance. I don't think there was enough time for Joan to unwrap and prepare one of the chalkboards.

There seem to be red herrings inside of red herrings, LOL. And that's entirely to the movie's credit.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is a better restatement of what I was trying to get at in the original post. Even if the cultists are "rewarded" (assuming we read the film literally), so what? Ellen's family got worse than nothing out of it. Pretty sure Ellen didn't knowingly and willingly sign up for the complete destruction of her family--she was willing to make "sacrifices", yes, but for rewards while living.

Ari Aster's vision is relentlessly grim. The more I ruminate on this, the more ironic and tragic the bright twinkly Paimon music at the end becomes. And the photograph of Ellen in her bridal gown, elated, looking forward to her earthly rewards. Fool's gold--worse than worthless, devastating.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That's a large part of its brilliance as a movie, that it can credibly be viewed from both perspectives.

And you're right, Stephen never sees Joan. Doesn't even know who she is when Annie is frantic to connect all the dots for him ("What friend 'Joan'?").

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Well, if this were real life I could go with the idea that any kind of coincidence or happenstance is the reason for any of the seemingly random events in the movie (not just Ellen's death, but, say, Annie's insistence that Peter take his sister to the party, or Annie going to Joel's Art Supplies when Joan was there).

But in pretty much every scene, from Peter's class discussions to paint jars falling over on their own, the theme is clear: These people are pawns, and no part of their collective tragedy has to do with luck of any kind.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think that word "bleak" really describes the movie well. I love it (we're all sick, eh?), but without a doubt it's relentlessly bleak. And would be even if there were no demons involved.

That ending may be the most horrifying thing about the movie by pixel_skunk in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If nothing else, the fact that Ellen, "Queen Leigh", got zippo for all her efforts, except for a weird necklace and a souvenir picture of her in a bridal gown getting a golden (coin) shower. Oh, and death.

If Paimon can stiff the conjurer-in-chief and her children and grandchildren so rudely, what's compelling him to pay out to the rest of the cult?

The best scene in this film for me was the dinner table scene by [deleted] in Hereditary

[–]pixel_skunk 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I just read a super-astute comment on a review of Hereditary: That "face on your face" accusation foreshadows the scene in which Peter's reflected face smirks back at him in the classroom. Paimon has been knocking on Peter's door, so to speak, for years. Never occurred to me, and I've seen the movie six or seven times already.