Jennifer Lawrence in DIE MY LOVE 2025. © MUBI /Courtesy Everett Collection
As horror fans, we all know the challenge of trying to explain to our families, friends, or partners why, say, Fabrice Du Welz’s Calvaire is a must-watch Christmas classic. I’ve tried it before, and believe me, the looks I got afterwards weren’t pretty. No amount of “It’s nihilistic on purpose” will save you. Jennifer Lawrence, who recently starred in Lynne Ramsay’s genre-bender Die My Love, probably knows what it feels like, too. After all, her favorite movie of all time is Ari Aster’s Hereditary.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lawrence revealed that Hereditary was her favorite movie, even sipping from a water bottle adorned in stickers from the film. Even cuter? Lawrence shared how her husband gifted her a diamond necklace for her birthday, packaged within a copy of Hereditary’s screenplay. With Aster’s classic streaming now on HBO Max, you can judge for yourself whether Hereditary continues to live up to the hype.
Courtesy of A24
For my own personal perspective, yes, Hereditary does. Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to attend an IMAX re-release, courtesy of A24. Of my experience, I wrote, “Hereditary is a microcosm of suffocating grief, trauma horror before it was the Biggest Thing in genre spaces. A small, miniature world, amplified with specificity that, in turn, becomes universal.” I concluded by writing, “I was forced to reckon with a feeling that swelled not in my heart and not in my gut, but somewhere deeper, somewhere primordial, an ancestral realm of grief and pain. Somewhere maybe we’re all tethered to, where the worst feelings tend to live.”
It’s an uncomfortable movie, and one that haunts me to this day. The set-up, if you’re somehow unaware, is simple. A family is besieged by both cult and paranormal activity, amplifying their grief and stress until they reach a maddening, bloody breaking point. It’s assaultive, unrelenting, and unforgiving. A classic, and one Jennifer Lawrence is right to consider an all-timer. Sure, Hereditary may not hold the cultural horror cache it once did, but I promise Aster’s classic hasn’t been neutered by time one bit.
So, make like Jennifer Lawrence and go stream Hereditary on HBO Max now. You can even check out an even more disturbing output streaming free from Ari Aster while you’re at it. Once you do, let me know whether Hereditary lives up to the hype almost a decade later over on Twitter at @Chadiscollins or Instagram @Chadcoolins.
Categorized: Streaming News
