StrangeScaffold
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Hereditary (2018 film) = Finished
🕑 Added 2018-12-28 09:34:27 +0000 UTCAt first, I was impressed with how Hereditary literally weaponized the symbols of grief - the memories, the objects...the little tics and words used by the one you knew - and turned them into engines of supernatural horror. That little click of the tongue that your sister used to do before they passed away? The one that you miss now that they're gone? Yeah, if you suddenly get it now--you're possessed. Just absolutely demon-filled, dude. Sorry about that.
It's remarkably effective on a primal level. What if everything attached to the person you cared about became a harbinger of danger...if not the source of danger itself? Binding agents of terrible power and effect. It's a double whammy of pain and terror, especially when combined with the fear of the unknown (AKA the "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING" that you get in horror scenarios).
I thought that would be Hereditary's most impactful parallel.
Then, the ending happened.
A king of hell, Paimon, is incarnated on Earth, and carried in the shattered mind of a teenage boy. The good guys don't win. Alex Wolff's performance in this segment, a broken speck bearing the burning spirit of an evil force, is heartbreaking.
The coronation of this demonic king was also super interesting for me as a Christian. Aside from the obvious demon-prayer bit, or the idea that Paimon alone carries the knowledge of secret things (contradicted by Daniel 2:20-23/Deuteronomy 29:29 - intriguing passages if you look those up), its depiction of a generational curse struck me as different than anything I'd seen in a horror movie before. It was actually Biblical in its scope and execution. Here's the sequence:
A Thing gets set in motion by someone a bit ago--in Hereditary's case, the grandmother who created the coven. That Thing has predicted but shocking consequences on the family thereafter, who make choices that further reinforce the Thing. The Thing...doesn't get broken.
Family continues to hurt family, generations later.
It reminded me of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 20), who was fine with the curse associated with his actions as long as they didn't emerge during his lifetime. It reminded me of Isaac, whose constant use of lying even though he was literally a guy who talked to God verbally came back to bite him once his son Jacob became one of the greatest tricksters in the Bible. It reminded me of tragedies of mental illness, alcoholism, and a host of other issues that chew their ways down family lines to this day. In each case, both the originators and the successors of the curse have choices to make. Avenues of potential change. In each case, the choice made often continues the curse. Summons the demon.
Watching Hereditary helped me come to terms with a frustration I had reading these stories--why the person in question choose to break the cycle. It turns out they didn't fail because it was easy. They failed because it was hard.
Duh, right?
But even with things I've seen and personally experienced, it took a horror movie to get it through my head.
It is so damn hard to break a cycle, particularly when the deck is stacked against you. There are forces at work from every angle, doing their utmost to break you down. To summon the demon--because it's easier, and gets more so with every fallen family member and friend before you.
To break it takes something supernatural--and God help you if he isn't already.
God help us all.
