Hereditary (2018)
Genre: Horror
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro
Duration: 127 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Writer Ari Aster makes his directorial feature debut with a supernatural horror film starring Toni Collette and Gabriel Bryne.

The film follows the events after the death of Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family. Her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, received very good reviews. Critics lauded the director, who has often described his work not as a horror film but rather “a tragedy that curdles into a nightmare”. It is said Aster was inspired by such horror films as Rosemary’s Baby, Cries and Whispers, Don’t Look Now, Carrie and Ordinary People for this film.

A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote: “Hereditary, the debut feature from Ari Aster, has an ambitious energy, a sense that the creaky old machinery of horror can be adapted to new and exciting uses.”

David Edelstein of Vulture  magazine commented that the film “raises the bar on emotional agony. If you want to see things you can never unsee and feel pain you can never unfeel, here’s the ultimate test”.

Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post said: “Manoeuvring the camera like an unseen spirit, Aster provides some breadcrumbs along the way, including an unsubtle reference to the sacrifice of Iphigenia in Greek mythology.”

And the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Hereditary uses its classic set-up as the framework for a harrowing, uncommonly unsettling horror film whose cold touch lingers long beyond the closing credits.”

Released in the US last weekend, the film has grossed $48 million in box office sales worldwide so far.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Empire: 5 stars

Benicio del Toro plays a covert operations expert in Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Genre: Western
Director: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine
Duration: 122 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

After a US bombing is linked to Mexican people-smugglers, covert operations experts Graver (Josh Brolin) and Gillick (Benicio del Toro) are enlisted to help the CIA incite war between rival cartels. However, when a druglord’s kidnapped daughter (Isabela Moner) is seen as collateral damage, the two men find themselves on opposing sides of a violent war.

Early reviews say that the sequel to the 2015 film Sicario ramps up the violence and tension as well as providing memorable  performances from Brolin and del Toro. But not all critics were convinced.

Jeffrey M. Anderson of Common Sense Media wrote: “This sequel to Sicario is solid enough in its storytelling, with some inspired elements (as well as some lazy ones). But the special touches that made the original great are glaringly absent.”

Ratings
IMDB: N/A
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Empire: 4 stars