Hereditary

Toni Collette's burning inferno of a performance illuminates this extraordinary horror

"...metal. The Predator's clicking. Mister Babadook's guttural dook-dook-dook. In Hereditary, it's the percussive beat a child makes when she..."

June 8, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s folk-horror excursion to Scandinavia never sees the forest for the trees

"...how Midsommar, the follow-up to his surprise supernatural smash Hereditary, truly begins: With Dani (Pugh) balled up on her..."

July 5, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Midsommar: The Director's Cut

More time in the Land of the Midnight Sun

"...With the first edit still in theatres, Ari Aster (Hereditary) inserts another half hour of feasting, sacrifice, and academic..."

Aug. 30, 2019 Movie Review

Proof

As with many film adaptations of stage successes, David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about mathematics and madness loses something in its translation to celluloid.

"...possibility that Catherine may be descending into an inevitable hereditary madness. And without the measure of self-deprecating levity that..."

Oct. 7, 2005 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Beau Is Afraid

Joaquin Phoenix is the understated fool in this bloated Oedipal epic

"...To sate fans of his earlier horror work with Hereditary and Midsommar, he throws in a decapitation and a..."

April 21, 2023 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Malum

A rookie cop gets harassed by demons in a remake of Last Shift

"...rather unfortunately, make Malum feel like DiBlasi and watched Hereditary before their rewrite (which is funny, because Last Shift..."

March 31, 2023 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Sator

Occult horror will hold you in its dark, subtle spell

"...recent wave of darkly captivating supernatural family dramas like Hereditary, cult favorite The Deeper You Dig, and Bryan Bertino’s..."

April 23, 2021 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Relic

Senility and the supernatural in this nerve-wracking Australian horror

"...The comparisons to Hereditary, Ari Aster's febrile masterpiece of familial dysfunction, are inevitable,..."

July 10, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Lodge

Icy melding of horror and religion is cool, not chilling

"...couple of years (or at least until memories of Hereditary wear off)...."

Feb. 14, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Nun

The Conjuring franchise heads to Romania

"...so more akin to Paimon in the far superior Hereditary). But no simple explanation can brush away the sloppiness..."

Sept. 14, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Nancy

Andrea Riseborough spellbinds in this drama of self-delusion and second chances.

"...that runs through The Handmaid's Tale, American Animals, and Hereditary) who depends on her, but can seemingly scarcely tolerate..."

June 29, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Bad to the Bone

"...violence is the affliction under the microscope here, a hereditary cultural ailment that's passed on from father to son...."

Feb. 19, 1999 Screens Feature by Marjorie Baumgarten

Midsommar Madness

The obsessions of Ari Aster illuminated in his folk horror hit

"...film – after the surprise success of occult horror Hereditary – places the strained relationship of college students Dani..."

July 12, 2019 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Riding With Joe Carnahan and Latinx Superhero El Chicano

The action innovator on film, politics, the Coens, Blumhouse and more

"...really been like, "Wow." I liked large portions of Hereditary, but ultimately it got too wackadoodle for me. I..."

May 4, 2019 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Saint Maud

Agony and ecstasy intertwined in this horror as Catholic angst turns self-destruction

"...market treatment reserved for A24 titles like Midsommar and Hereditary. Regardless, it will not take long for horror fans..."

Jan. 29, 2021 Movie Review by Matthew Monagle

The Dark and the Wicked

Gone to Hell, gone to Texas in this intergenerational horror

"...In this High Plains Hereditary, Texas director Bryan Bertino injects pockets of grisly sin..."

Nov. 6, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Antebellum

Time-mangling racism allegory can’t be saved by its good intentions

"...well before release. It happened with The Witch and Hereditary, and this year that honor was bestowed on mysterious..."

Sept. 18, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Fantastic Fest Review: The Lodge

Family drama becomes an exercise in cruelty that may go to far

"...for the next couple of years, until memories of Hereditary wear off). Yet the biggest issue is that cruelty...."

Sept. 22, 2019 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Five Feet Apart

Meet cute on the teen ICU takes a turn for the corny

"...Here, the incurable disease is cystic fibrosis, a hereditary condition in which the lungs progressively deteriorate as the..."

March 22, 2019 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Top 10 Most Read Film Reviews of 2018

Number one will shock you. No, for reals. Shocked and appalled.

"...hits" (read our less-than-glowing two-and-a-half star review here). 7: Hereditary Oh, god, that clacking sound. A devastating mixture of..."

Dec. 29, 2018 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Austin Film Critics Release 2018 Awards Nominee Lists

Roster includes new stunt and mo-cap categories

"...The Favourite Regina Hall, Support the Girls Toni Collette, Hereditary Best Supporting Actor Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street..."

Dec. 28, 2018 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Richard Whittaker’s Top 10 Films of 2018

"...martini-fueled throwback to Peyton Place and Danger: Diabolik. 8) Hereditary..."

Dec. 28, 2018 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Cracking Open The Devil's Doorway

Horror director Aislinn Clarke on Ireland's dirty secret

"...summons visions of one of this year's best films, Hereditary...."

July 14, 2018 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

Unleashing the Summer Blockbusters

Your cinematic calendar for the must-see big releases

"...Hereditary (A24, R) Toni Collette takes on intergenerational nightmares...."

May 18, 2018 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Wes Anderson Brings Isle of Dogs to SXSW

Plus Midnighters bring the gore, and Alita party

"...Martin Freeman, makes its North American debut. Sorcerous mystery Hereditary comes out of Sundance with the reputation of being..."

Feb. 7, 2018 SXSW Post by Richard Whittaker

Mr. Brooks

Serial killers are a dime a dozen in this often beguiling but essentially ludicrous movie that stars Kevin Costner in an unconventional role.

"...fear the worst: His homicidal impulses might be a hereditary addiction. By the time the police come knocking at..."

June 1, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

To Your Health

Is there an effective way to treat nosebleeds through nutrition?

"...that show up only later in life as nosebleeds. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, also known as Rendu-Osler-Weber disease, is one..."

Sept. 1, 2006 Column by James Heffley, Ph.D.

Austin Author Gabino Iglesias Talks Spiders and Assassins

The horror writer guides you through the darkness at the Texas Book Festival

"...have compared it to that scene in Ari Aster's Hereditary, and it may cause a similarly powerful physiological response..."

Nov. 4, 2022 Arts Feature by Maggie Q. Thompson

Opinion – Bridgerton: A Black Man in a White Fairytale

A professor of British literature argues that the popular Netflix series trivializes childhood trauma and marital sexual violence to get to a traditional “happily ever after”

"...marry or reproduce, to put an end to the hereditary Dukedom that his father so prized. But then he..."

Jan. 8, 2021 Column by Riya Das

Fantasia Review: The Dark and the Wicked

Gone to Texas, gone to Hell in this occult horror

"...In his High Plains Hereditary, Texas director Bryan Bertino injects pockets of grisly sin..."

Sept. 2, 2020 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

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