History YMMV / Hereditary

* CriticalDissonance: The film is highly acclaimed among critics, but has polarized general audiences (with a D+ Cinemascore and a 66% audience rating on Website/RottenTomatoes). Like previous [[Film/TheWitch horror]] [[Film/ItComesAtNight films]] distributed by Creator/{{A24}}, this may be due to MisaimedMarketing.

* MisaimedMarketing: [[Film/TheWitch Once]] [[Film/ItComesAtNight again]], Creator/{{A24}} puts out a slow-burning horror film marketed as a relentless scarefest, resulting in general audiences expecting something much more conventional being pissed off.

** The scene where we hear nothing but Annie's screams and cries after finding [[spoiler:Charlie's corpse]] can be just a tad too long and overblown for some. Surely justified, as it must be horrific going down to your car thinking nothing bad and suddenly finding [[spoiler:the headless corpse of your daughter]], but the immediate cuts to the [[spoiler:rotting head and then to the funeral]] almost imply that she was screaming like this for days without interruption.

** Peter's literature class discusses two pieces of Greek mythology, Euripides's Heracles and the death of Iphigenia, but we don't hear much of the actual discussion. If you're familiar with the source material, you know that [[spoiler:both are about parents killing their children.]]

** Annie's [[spoiler:decapitated body floating up into the tree house]] can come off as goofy to some people.

** The scene where we hear nothing but Annie's screams and cries after finding [[spoiler:Charlie's corpse]] is just a tad too long and overblown. Surely justified, as it must be horrific going down to your car thinking nothing bad and suddenly finding [[spoiler:the headless corpse of your daughter]], but the immediate cuts to the [[spoiler:rotting head and then to the funeral]] imply that she was screaming like this for days without interruption.
** Although Annie and Peter's argument at the dinner table after [[spoiler:Charlie's death]] is mostly very effective, the line "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment that fucking face on your face]]" does ruin the mood just a bit. [[NarmCharm However, it is also the kind of thing someone would say when flustered and angry, so it's justified]].
** [[spoiler:The movie ends with Peter wearing a Burger King-esque paper crown while surrounded by naked, prostrating cultists yelling "HAIL PAIMON!"]] It definitely got a laugh out of some people.

** [[spoiler:HAIL PAIMON]]![[note]]A common thing to chant after seeing the film among fans of it.[[/note]]

** DON'T you swear at me, you little shit! Don't you EVER raise your voice at me! I am your mother! [[note]]This is from a scene where Annie gets mad at Peter for being rude at the dinner table, becomming a popular copypasta.[[/note]]

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The film has this problem for the opposite reason as most horror films: not because the characters are [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters poorly acted, boring, or just plain detestable]] so that [[EightDeadlyWords you don't care for]] or [[KickTheSonOfABitch outright cheer on]] what happens to them, but because they're a realistic and fairly sympathetic ordinary suburban family - which makes what happens to them even less fun to watch. For a ''significant'' number of people, the movie had already crossed this line after [[spoiler:a child gets ''decapitated'']] in a horrible car accident 45 minutes in, but things only proceed to [[FromBadToWorse get worse]] from that point onward. Aster stated that one of his intents with the film was to create a scenario in which the audience would feel real sympathy for the sort of characters that would be nameless, faceless {{Sacrificial Lamb}}s in any other horror movie. Given the [[CriticalDissonance exceedingly polarized reaction to the film]], the argument can definitely be made that he succeeded a bit too well.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Annie's husband, Steve is seen by fans as either a dull, uninteresting character in a main cast full of interesting ones, or an equally interesting character who's trying to make sense of the terrifying situations around him.

** It's not totally clear [[spoiler: how much of Paimon's host is left after the possession.]] Given that Joan had to [[spoiler: tell Charlie (as Peter) that he was Paimon]] it's quite possible a good deal is left, which could ultimately be bad news for [[spoiler: [[LaserGuidedKarma the worshippers who just murdered his entire family]].]]

** Big debates in regards to the movie are [[spoiler: who really was at fault for Charlie's death. There are debates on Annie being at fault due to her forcing Peter (''and'' Charlie, mind you, who voiced concern that she didn't want to go) while some point at Peter not being responsible in taking care of his sister. Or, if you're going by the interpretation that Charlie was aware of the whole plot, did she deliberately commit suicide?]]

** In another sense, there's a niche interpretation that the entire film is actually about [[spoiler: Charlie becoming a trans boy, and with the events of the film therefore being an allegory to how Charlie starts to transition (becoming Peter), her family rejects it, and she eventually finds happiness with others]]. This theory has become known through [=YouTuber=] Nyx Fears (as implied she made the theory due to her own transitioning).

* EsotericHappyEnding: [[spoiler: Peter being possessed by Paimon and worshiped by the cult is depicted as a oddly triumphant moment free of the sense of dread felt throughout every moment of the film leading up to that final scene. This may be deliberate MoodDissonance to heighten the creep factor, though.]]

** Peter's literature class discusses two pieces of Greek mythology, Euripides's Heracles and the death of Iphigenia, but we don't hear much of the actual discussion. If you're familiar with the source material, you know that [[spoiler: both are about parents killing their children.]]

*** Disgusted/Shocked Annie[[labelnote: Explanation]]Toni Collette’s horrified, over-the-top [[https://i.imgur.com/e7wkmjF.jpg reaction]] to seeing Peter covered in ants was ripe for meme fodder.[[/labelnote]]

** [[spoiler:HAIL PAIMON]]![[note]] A common thing to chant after seeing the film among fans of it. [[/note]]

** Although Alex Wolff generally delivers a great performance, some viewers have criticized the childish way he cries in some scenes. Of course, his character Peter is only 16, and the kinds of situations he finds himself in would make almost anyone regress. It's also possibly [[spoiler: an effect of being possessed by Paimon, who still believes he's Charlie, a 13-year-old girl]].
** Annie's [[spoiler: decapitated body floating up into the tree house]] can come off as goofy to some people.
** [[spoiler: Annie leaving Peter's room by crawling in the air looks more like she's doggy-paddling]].
** The scene where we hear nothing but Annie's screams and cries after finding [[spoiler: Charlie's corpse]] is just a tad too long and overblown. Surely justified, as it must be horrific going down to your car thinking nothing bad and suddenly finding [[spoiler: the headless corpse of your daughter]], but the immediate cuts to the [[spoiler: rotting head and then to the funeral]] imply that she was screaming like this for days without interruption.
** Although Annie and Peter's argument at the dinner table after [[spoiler: Charlie's death]] is mostly very effective, the line "[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment that fucking face on your face]]" does ruin the mood just a bit. [[NarmCharm However, it is also the kind of thing someone would say when flustered and angry, so it's justified]].

* NarmCharm: The overtly supernatural nature of the film’s final act which features [[spoiler: Steve getting burnt to a crisp, a seance scene, and a possessed Annie crawling on the walls and ceiling]], can come across as silly for some when compared to the relatively more grounded and realistic psychological horror of the first and second acts. But that doesn’t stop it from being absolutely terrifying nonetheless.
* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Let's just say that fans of [[spoiler: Margaret Atwood won't be surprised when [[Series/TheHandmaidsTale Aunt Lydia]] turns out to be EvilAllAlong.]]

** The convoluted steps of the summoning ritual is fairly ridiculous: [[spoiler: "Oh shit, our demon king is ''livid'' because we put him into the wrong body. Here's what we need to do: After our leader dies, we'll smuggle her decaying body into the host's attic and secretly carve symbols throughout their house, without any of the family noticing. Then we'll mark a specific telephone pole with the symbol and hope that either demonic intervention or incredible coincidences lead to the host getting decapitated on that pole. Then we'll trick the host's mother into summoning Paimon back from hell and cursing her son, hoping that she never tries to find out what the words she's saying actually mean. Then we'll break back into her home and watch as the demon kills the whole family, including the host. Then all we'll have to do is collect all the body parts, arrange them in a fancy altar, strip down naked in a treehouse, and then... HAIL PAIMON!"]]
** Most of the movie could be leading up to a number of different explanations for what's happening ranging [[spoiler: from Ellen and/or Charlie's ghosts causing all the trouble, to Annie just being crazy, to it all being in their heads]]. These all could be viable explanations and the last third of the movie is mostly just narrowing down what's really happening.

** Steve. The OnlySaneMan in the Graham family, he loses [[spoiler:his daughter in an accident that his son and wife inadvertently caused]]. Then the relationship between his wife and son deteriorates, and Steve is forced to protect him from her [[spoiler: once the cult begins influencing her]]. [[spoiler: He fails ultimately, and ends up burning to death in his own living room]].
** Annie. Her reaction to [[spoiler:the death of her daughter]] and the fact that both herself and her son inadvertently played a part in it is absolutely gut-wrenching. [[spoiler: Then she finds out that her mother and her friend, Joan, both played a part in engineering the downfall of her family and the death of her daughter, all to summon the Demon King Paimon for their own selfish desires]].
** And finally, Charlie. [[spoiler: She's chosen as the vessel for King Paimon since her birth, and grows up with the soul with a demon against her will. Because the demon is dissatisfied with having a female host, the cult conspires to have Charlie brutally killed in a freak accident to appease King Paimon. After her horrible death, her spirit is brought back during a séance, absolutely confused and terrified of what has happened to her.]]

** The end credits use a cover of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Xm30heHms "Both Sides Now"]] by Judy Collins.

* FanNickname: The movie itself has been referred to by many people as "[[spoiler:[[OffWithHerHead Her head]]-itary]]".