Hereditary

Hereditary is yet another film that takes a look at the horror of the monstrous feminine. The film is a tricky one to analyze as its end reveals requires you to work backwards as you unpack the meaning presented in the film. The basic premise of the film centers on a family that is haunted by demon that wants to posses a male within it bloodline. In this film our depiction of the monstrous is represented by the former matriarch of the Graham family. A former partner to the demon of the film the legacy if Leigh Graham is one that her family is unable to shake. Her decisions are shown to have disastrous effects on her family as we are told that Annie's brother was driven to suicide and Annie's family is unable to find peace with constant attempts to find a new host being made against her children. One intersting aspect of this film is the idea that the demon was only able to host in a male body of its own bloodline. This made Peter the only suitable host as he was the last male member of the bloodline. This is an interesting idea that I feel furthers the divide between the make and female characters of the film in order to emphasis the "female monster". It allows us to center on Peter as a victim as he is forced to experience the full traumatic experience created by the cult members and demon whic ultimatley leads to his possesion by films end.