"What am I going through?"

Absolutely beautiful.

No spoilers, but some very very mild plot mentions, so don't read if you want to go in totally blind.

One of the rarer occasions when the film exceeds the hype. This was totally my shit.

The camera is languid and patient, moving hypnotically through some very impressive choreography. There are deliciously drawn out sequences here (Cliff and Dance in particular), that mesh perfectly with the score, by The Haxan Cloak, to create moments of stirring and ethereal affirmation (reminiscent of the final scene of Hereditary, so I’m glad to see Ari doubled down on that feeling in this film). The score is oppressive at times for sure, but it leans more heavily towards cathartic. The visual language is extremely potent 😉

I really dig when there’s a completely bulletproof character drama smuggled into a horror movie. It’s very rare that this is the case, as most of the time it veers off the tracks towards horror and the entire piece falls apart. The moments when the motifs from the drama get introduced and mix in with the horror is sublime, and the continuity is elegant. The ending sequence is a shining example of this. While it got a lot of laughs (and admittedly, it is meant to be funny), it’s also heartrending. When Dani finally gets to share her grief, for the first time surrounded and not alone, man…. it’s fucking beautiful.

Now, Hereditary was a horror film, sure, hundred percent. Was this? I dunno... I didn't walk out of this feeling like I got owned by an unrelenting horror. Yeah there's really cool gore and lots of tense high art shit, but, I walked out of this feeling... lifted up. Joyful. Ari says he's moving onto other genres, and everyone's crying about it, but I just hope he keeps making films about what we do to each other. It's cool that horror was the vehicle for these first two, but I'm excited to see the other rides.

This also contains what has got to be my favorite opening sequence of any A24 film. Bravo.