HEREDITARY (2018) Ending + Story Explained

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HEREDITARY (2018) Ending + Story Explained
Transcript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 Hey everybody, welcome to FoundFlicks
00:06 and this ending explained on Hereditary,
00:08 where a family matriarch passes away
00:10 and her daughter begins to unravel
00:12 increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry.
00:15 This movie has been massively hyped
00:17 leading up to its release,
00:18 with critics declaring it the scariest movie
00:20 since The Exorcist.
00:21 But then the movie came out and the cinema score,
00:24 which is determined by audience response,
00:26 gave it a D+, which is pretty bad.
00:29 So what happened?
00:30 The reason for this, I think, is the trailers.
00:32 It's not really a case of mis-marketing,
00:34 but more like the studio choosing to hide what the story is.
00:38 And it's not quite the same as the trailer presents.
00:40 However, it is not a bad movie by any stretch.
00:43 And while certainly not as scary as The Exorcist
00:46 and Nothing Ever Will Be,
00:47 this is more comparable to recent indie horror successes
00:50 like The Witch and The Babadook.
00:52 And the last 20 minutes of Hereditary
00:54 are absolutely nightmarish and intense.
00:57 The entire movie is also impressively crafted on all fronts,
01:00 especially the cinematography
01:02 that makes even the most mundane scenes unsettling.
01:05 It's cool too, as they created the entire house as a set,
01:08 thusly allowing them to be able to remove walls anywhere
01:11 to facilitate the intricate camera movements.
01:14 The performances throughout are also top-notch,
01:16 but in particular, Toni Collette is incredible,
01:18 taking on an insanely demanding and emotional role,
01:21 and her performance is truly one for the ages.
01:24 Give this lady all the awards, seriously.
01:26 It's also interesting the way the story unfolds
01:29 and how information is presented to the audience,
01:32 because there are many important aspects
01:34 that are deliberately left vague,
01:35 and some information we do have
01:37 that actually leads us to ask even more questions.
01:41 This means there is much to discuss with this one,
01:43 and I will do my best to address everything I can,
01:46 but can't possibly cover everything.
01:48 So let's dig into Hereditary,
01:50 uncovering what the story is all about,
01:52 answering some of the film's many mysteries,
01:55 and explaining what happens in the end.
01:57 Our story follows the Graham family
01:59 living in what looks like total isolation,
02:01 coping with the recent death of Annie's mother, Ellen.
02:04 And from the beginning,
02:05 the family doesn't seem close or loving whatsoever,
02:08 each usually occupying a separate room by themselves.
02:11 And when they are around each other,
02:13 it's usually very stiff and awkward.
02:15 It's like they've been isolated and distant
02:17 for quite some time,
02:18 and this is only made even more apparent
02:21 when confronting the loss of Annie's mother.
02:23 Her son, Peter, is essentially numb,
02:25 blankly going through the motions
02:26 of trying to be a normal teenager
02:28 by smoking reefers and trying to get laid,
02:30 but is obviously still traumatized by a childhood experience
02:34 where his mother almost set them both on fire
02:37 while sleepwalking.
02:37 Then there's her daughter, Charlie,
02:39 who is a social outcast,
02:40 preferring to cut the heads off of birds
02:42 to use for bizarre toys she makes,
02:45 and barely speaking beyond a strange mouth click.
02:47 She's just really weird, no doubt about that.
02:50 Her husband, Steve, on the other hand,
02:52 is pretty much the only one in the family
02:54 resembling a normal human being,
02:55 and does what he can to keep the family together
02:58 as it increasingly falls apart.
03:00 You really feel for this guy.
03:02 He's so even-keeled,
03:03 he sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the others.
03:05 Then there's Annie,
03:06 who already had mental issues of her own,
03:09 including the aforementioned sleepwalking,
03:11 which only gets more severe after her mother's death,
03:14 driving her to the point of madness.
03:16 It doesn't seem like she had a rosy relationship
03:19 with her mom at all,
03:20 as the two were estranged for many years.
03:22 It appears that her mother was a very domineering woman
03:25 with lots of secrets of which Annie is completely unaware of.
03:29 The story takes place from Annie's perspective,
03:31 so we, as the audience, only know as much as she does,
03:35 making us just as in the dark as the characters.
03:38 But there are a staggering number of clues
03:40 to let us know that something strange
03:41 is definitely going on from the beginning.
03:43 The first major instance being at Ellen's funeral.
03:46 As Annie delivers a eulogy,
03:48 she confusedly notes that there are a lot of people
03:50 in attendance she's never seen before.
03:52 Our first indication of her mother's
03:54 previously unknown secret life.
03:56 Unbeknownst to Annie, she and her family are targets
03:58 of a ritual to bring about the resurrection of a god
04:01 this cult worships.
04:03 And the entire film's events are being orchestrated
04:06 and controlled by this group,
04:08 a religious cult led by her mother,
04:10 referred to them as Queen Leigh.
04:12 This major theme of the strings being pulled
04:14 by outside forces is illustrated
04:16 via Annie's diorama she creates,
04:18 depicting events and places from her life.
04:21 It appears to be an attempt to feel control
04:23 as well as process her emotions.
04:25 But the reality is it is she and her family
04:28 that are in their own dollhouse
04:30 and the outside force controlling them is the cult.
04:33 They are essentially sacrificial lambs
04:35 oblivious to their greater purpose.
04:37 The reason behind this appears tied to the family's bloodline
04:40 which the title itself, "Hereditary," clues us into
04:43 and potentially also refers to mental illness
04:46 passing down through the family's generations as well.
04:48 But in the supernatural sense,
04:50 it seems that there is something special
04:51 about Leigh's bloodline
04:53 that is needed to summon their god, Paimon,
04:55 which if successful would bring untold riches
04:57 to her and her followers,
04:59 as long as he's summoned within his preferred male host.
05:02 For a bit of history on this Paimon character,
05:05 he is one of the kings of hell and is obedient to Lucifer.
05:07 Appearing male with a feminine face,
05:09 he is said to, among many things, possess untold wisdom
05:12 as well as other powers like flying, resurrecting the dead,
05:16 and creating visions of people and things,
05:18 all of which are on display in the film.
05:20 His symbol is an ornate design of four loops facing west
05:24 that pops up many times in the film.
05:25 These face west as this ties into the direction required
05:28 by Paimon for sacrifices made in his name,
05:31 as naturally it's gonna take a couple sacrifices
05:33 to summon a king of hell.
05:34 It's implied that Ellen actually first tried the ritual
05:37 in the past with her own children,
05:39 learning from Annie that her brother
05:40 suffered from schizophrenia,
05:41 saying his mother had been trying to put people inside of him
05:45 and as a result of his increasing mental instability,
05:47 killed himself.
05:48 Thusly, Ellen's plan was foiled
05:50 with no male host for Paimon,
05:52 leading her to urging Annie to have children of her own
05:55 so she could try again.
05:56 Annie didn't want her mother to have anything to do
05:58 with her kids though,
05:59 and when pregnant with Peter even tried to abort him,
06:02 perhaps worried he would suffer the same fate as her brother.
06:05 Though when Charlie was born,
06:07 she did allow her mother in her life
06:09 and Ellen dug her hooks into her as a baby,
06:11 even breastfeeding her, which is, you know,
06:14 definitely a boundary thing, I think.
06:16 The two developed a very close bond
06:18 and even after Ellen's death,
06:19 Charlie wonders to her own mother
06:21 who will take care of her now.
06:23 Based on other clues, I feel that at some point,
06:25 Ellen invited the spirit of Paimon into Charlie's body
06:28 as she is the first to see the strange blue light
06:31 that indicates the God's presence.
06:33 Here seen with Peter at school.
06:34 And perhaps having Paimon within Charlie
06:37 is what makes her be, you know, so weird
06:39 and cutting the heads off of things
06:41 and making weird toys out of them and all that stuff.
06:43 And this act of decapitation
06:45 is actually a very important connection to Paimon,
06:47 all indicating he is connected to her in some capacity.
06:50 We see this in the first major step
06:52 of the summoning ritual,
06:53 which occurs soon after Ellen's death.
06:55 Peter wants to go out to a party to meet a girl he likes,
06:58 but Annie forces him to drag his sister along,
07:00 which doesn't make a lot of sense.
07:02 Annie even suspects that there would be alcohol there,
07:04 so I'm not sure why she would want her young daughter
07:07 in that environment.
07:07 And she will end up regretting it
07:09 more than she could ever realize.
07:11 When Charlie, who has a peanut allergy,
07:13 unwittingly consumes a piece of cake full of nuts.
07:16 This allergy is telegraphed several times
07:19 in the early part of the film.
07:20 And we are constantly waiting for this to become an issue.
07:22 And in case it's not clear,
07:24 the party literally opens with someone
07:25 chopping an absurd amount of nuts.
07:28 Who needs that many even if they are making a cake?
07:30 Jeez!
07:31 And also, who the heck goes to a high school party
07:33 expecting delicious, freshly baked cake?
07:36 - Hey, great party.
07:40 Whatcha making?
07:41 - Oh, baby girl, no party is complete
07:43 without my specialty triple nut chocolate cake with nuts.
07:48 - Even if it's perhaps a bit on the nose,
07:51 Charlie eats the cake and has an allergic reaction,
07:53 getting Peter to take her to the hospital.
07:55 Rushing down a back road at high speeds,
07:57 Charlie leans her head out the window,
07:59 unable to breathe as her symptoms worsen.
08:01 A bloody deer carcass placed in the road
08:04 causes Peter to swerve out of the way
08:05 and drive right past a pole
08:07 that decapitates Charlie on impact.
08:09 This was quite a surprise and definitely shocking.
08:12 And Peter's reaction afterwards,
08:14 frozen in fear and unable to look in the backseat,
08:17 is so emotional and intense.
08:19 This scene definitely sticks with you.
08:21 So if you thought, like me,
08:23 Charlie was gonna be acting all weird
08:24 and clicking through the whole movie, not so much.
08:27 Her death is actually the true catalyst of the story.
08:29 And yes, even her death was orchestrated by the cult,
08:33 seeing their symbol carved into the pole.
08:35 Additionally, this road appears to be the only way
08:37 to go in and out from where they were
08:39 so they knew Peter would have to head back that way
08:42 and know where to plant the deer.
08:43 Charlie's death was certainly on purpose
08:45 and part of their intricate plan.
08:47 And it's even possible that Ellen actually gave Charlie
08:50 the peanut allergy as a baby, exposing her to it then,
08:53 which is how it happens,
08:54 and waiting for the day that this would come to pass.
08:57 After Charlie's death,
08:58 Annie is naturally even more emotionally distraught,
09:01 if that was even possible,
09:03 but seems to find some comfort
09:04 when she meets a woman, Joan, at her lost support group.
09:07 She too claims to have lost children as well.
09:10 And later seen appearing much happier,
09:12 clues Annie into using a seance
09:14 to be able to communicate with the spirit of Charlie,
09:16 as she had done with her dead son,
09:18 which helped give her closure.
09:19 Of course, she is not who she claims to be
09:22 and is actually Ellen's longtime friend
09:24 and second in command of the cults,
09:26 and seems to be the one leading them after her death.
09:28 She demonstrates the seance to Annie
09:30 and it does appear that she communicates
09:32 with her own dead son.
09:33 Now, it's possible that Joan did use her own family
09:36 to try and initiate the summoning and failed,
09:38 or she could also be lying about the whole thing,
09:40 as there is no actual evidence of her having a family at all.
09:44 Regardless, the real intent here
09:45 is to get Annie to do a seance of her own volition.
09:48 Using a journal of Charlie's as a link to her spirit,
09:51 the family, including a skeptical Steve
09:53 and mostly terrified Peter,
09:55 gather together to perform the seance,
09:57 following the exact specifications
09:59 detailed to her in instructions from Joan.
10:01 And it does seem to work in a sense,
10:03 bringing Charlie's spirit to the house,
10:04 but also causes the supernatural activity
10:07 and strange occurrences to ramp up immensely in intensity.
10:10 So chances are it's more to bring payment
10:12 closer to them than anything else.
10:14 Delving further into her mother's past,
10:16 Annie discovers the truth about who Joan is,
10:19 and then later finds her mother's headless body in the attic,
10:22 this causing her to pretty much lose it completely.
10:24 And I have to say, it's pretty impressive
10:26 that the cult was able to sneak her mother's dead body
10:29 into the attic with the family having no idea.
10:31 But to be fair, they've been dealing
10:32 with issues of their own,
10:33 and it's easy to consider that it's actually Annie
10:35 doing these things while sleepwalking,
10:37 as it has been getting worse,
10:39 including at one point, Peter waking up to Annie
10:41 literally trying to pull his head off.
10:43 But according to the writer-director,
10:44 it is all the work of the cult,
10:46 and not Annie losing her mind.
10:48 Though she is definitely doing that as well.
10:50 She confronts Steve about what she found,
10:52 but after seeing a body for himself
10:54 and being somewhat rational,
10:56 thinks that Annie has finally gone cuckoo bananas,
10:58 and she is the one that dug up her mother's body.
11:00 But she believes she has a way to prove to Steve
11:03 that something supernatural is going on.
11:05 Earlier, she attempted to burn Charlie's journal
11:07 to hopefully put a stop to things,
11:09 but as soon as it went into the fire,
11:10 her arm caught on fire as well,
11:12 forcing her to pull it out to save herself.
11:15 But this time with Steve,
11:16 she's willing to try again to prove herself,
11:19 even though she has every reason to believe
11:21 it will result in her death.
11:23 Instead, when she tosses it in,
11:25 it's Steve who gets the punishment,
11:27 as his entire body engulfs in flames.
11:29 Jeez, like I said, what a poor bastard.
11:31 I say this is Paimon's doing,
11:33 as it also knew what Annie thought would happen.
11:36 Also to him, Steve is not of importance to the ritual
11:38 as he doesn't share Annie's bloodline,
11:40 and her purpose is as of yet unfulfilled.
11:43 And as soon as Steve is toasted,
11:44 Paimon's spirit moves into her body,
11:46 seeing a sudden transformation occurring within her,
11:49 beginning to smile at her husband's death,
11:51 and bizarrely begins to float in the air.
11:53 She terrifyingly awaits in the rafters of Peter's room,
11:56 watching him while he sleeps,
11:58 revealing herself after he searches the house.
12:00 She then chases him into the attic,
12:01 banging her head on the door while upside down,
12:04 giving us this terrifying image,
12:05 which I have turned into a loop here for your pleasure.
12:08 Good luck sleeping tonight.
12:09 She then proceeds to painfully decapitate herself
12:12 with piano wire, hacking away viciously at her own throat,
12:15 blood spilling out everywhere.
12:17 And they're not alone up there in the attic,
12:18 as several other cult members appear,
12:20 all naked, standing in the shadows,
12:22 smiling creepily at Peter.
12:23 He freaks upon seeing them,
12:25 instinctively leaping out of the second story window
12:27 to get away, and plummeting to his death.
12:30 This allows Paimon/Charlie to enter his body,
12:33 seeing the blue light overtake him,
12:34 and Peter rises up alive once again,
12:37 then doing the distinctive clicking as his sister used to.
12:40 She and Paimon have now claimed Peter's body
12:42 after his unfortunate death.
12:44 Well, it is perfect for the cult, though.
12:46 He stares out towards Charlie's treehouse,
12:48 watching as his mother's headless body floats up into it.
12:51 Yep, inside, finding Joan,
12:53 along with the rest of the cult in a kind of trance,
12:55 chanting for Paimon, all bowing down to an altar
12:58 that resembles the odd toys Charlie used to construct,
13:01 but larger, including Charlie's head as the centerpiece,
13:04 wearing a crown placed on top.
13:05 This once again connecting the two before she was dead,
13:08 since the toys she created strongly resemble the statue,
13:11 implying he was with her even then.
13:13 In front of the altar, the headless bodies of Ellen and Annie
13:16 are also kneeling in a ceremonial fashion,
13:19 the three positioned in a kind of triangle formation
13:21 towards the altar,
13:22 the triangle being another symbol
13:24 often associated with Paimon.
13:26 It's most likely tied to the holy trinity
13:28 of Christianity, but on the opposite end of the spectrum,
13:31 specifically denouncing it, as Joan says here to Peter,
13:34 "Oh, and as far as all the decapitation going on,
13:37 "this is merely something Paimon requests for his sacrifices,
13:40 "seen in the one picture of him found by Annie
13:42 "holding three disembodied heads.
13:44 "It's just how he likes his sacrifices."
13:46 And beheading is fairly common amongst ritualistic killings.
13:50 The crown placed on Peter's head by Joan,
13:52 he has fulfilled his purpose
13:53 as becoming the human host for Paimon/Charlie,
13:56 completing the group's plans they've been attempting
13:58 for at least decades, if not longer.
14:01 Good job, guys, you did it.
14:02 Now where are all those riches you promised, dude?
14:05 - Yes, it is I, Lord Paimon.
14:07 Thanks so much for summoning me, you guys.
14:10 I really appreciated how you went
14:11 for those decapitations how I like,
14:13 and don't forget, always face west. (laughs)
14:17 - The galaxy's finest peanut brittle, sire.
14:20 - Hmm, well, thank you very much.
14:22 Hmm.
14:24 Now if you're wondering about those riches that I promised,
14:27 I don't actually have those on me.
14:28 No, those are buried deep in the depths
14:31 of Lucifer's secret bank, and...
14:34 (coughs)
14:35 Peanut brittle?
14:36 (coughs)
14:37 My one weakness.
14:38 (coughs)
14:41 Are you full?
14:42 (coughs)
14:44 - Poor Paimon.
14:46 It was the peanuts that got him in the end.
14:48 All right, folks, that'll wrap it up
14:49 for this ending explained on "Hereditary."
14:52 I did my best to answer as many questions
14:54 about the movie as possible,
14:55 but I'm sure there's stuff I missed.
14:57 So leave comments with any other lingering questions
15:00 you have, and maybe I'll do a video in the future
15:02 going into even more depth about the movie.
15:04 What did you guys think of "Hereditary" and its ending?
15:06 Did you think it was worth the hype?
15:08 What theories do you have about the story?
15:11 Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
15:13 Make sure to like, subscribe, and follow.
15:15 Thanks for watching FanFlics.