• Hereditary by Ari Aster is both extremely unsettling and convoluted.
• There is a supernatural component to the plot.
• Charlie served as Paimon’s host, but Paimon still requires a male host from Leigh’s bloodline.

Hereditary by Ari Aster is both extremely unsettling and convoluted. You can never be sure how much of what’s happening is real and how much is just the characters’ declining mental health because of the way the mythology is woven.

However, there is a supernatural component to the plot, and this component is essential to comprehending the film’s bizarre conclusion. Let’s take a moment to quickly review what transpired before attempting to make sense of the conclusion.

The cult of Paimon, which his grandmother, dubbed “Queen Leigh” by the cult’s adherents, formally commanded with Joan (Ann Dowd) as her top lieutenant, worships Peter (Alex Wolff), who has been taken over by Paimon, one of the eight kings of hell.

Peter, who is now known as Charlie (Milly Shapiro) since he also possesses his sister’s spirit, is informed that the trinity (probably the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost) has been destroyed and that Paimon now rules over the severed remains of Peter’s parents. Paimon, hail!

So how did we get at this conclusion exactly? The title of the movie, Hereditary, is the biggest hint. Although the title also alludes to mental illness, there is something special about this bloodline that Leigh requires in order to call Paimon, who will grant wealth to his followers as long as he is in the form of a male host.

Toni Collette’s character, Annie, has spent her entire life attempting to shield the family’s male members in particular from her mother’s influence. She attempted an abortion and refused to let her mother even touch Peter. This brings to mind Annie’s late brother’s “schizophrenia,” which led him to claim that his mother was “trying to put people inside of him.” Later on, it becomes clear that Paimon requires a male host, which is why Annie was fine with her grandmother’s proximity to Charlie.

But wasn’t Annie complicit in it all, or at the very least accountable due to her sleepwalking condition? Even though we’re supposed to believe Annie might be behind it, Aster asserts that the cult was really the one in charge the entire time.

Vulture hears Aster say, “The audience is supposed to have a sneaking suspicion that it could be Annie, but in reality, Ann Dowd plays a huge role in the cult. However, the movie is meant to give you the impression that there are individuals nearby who are observing this family and are standing just outside.”

In the end, Charlie served as Paimon’s host, but Paimon still requires a male host from Leigh’s bloodline in order to bestow her riches (which explains why she refrained from pursuing Annie’s spouse, Steve [Gabriel Byrne]). Joan uses Charlie’s passing as a pretext to utilize the séance as a means of transferring Paimon from Charlie to Peter.

Paimon can still use his power to have Annie cut off her own head and burn Steve alive, but the Paimon cult still requires a host for the demon. Peter’s attempt to jump from the window creates a space for Charlie/Paimon to enter his body. Peter gets to live out the rest of his days as a host for a monster that killed his family because the cult succeeds. The year’s best feel-good film is this one.

Of course, the real theme of Hereditary is how we cannot escape the wounds of our families, whether they are severe tragedy or mental illness.

Aster uses the supernatural element to more effectively depict themes that may have been expressed in a novel without supernatural elements, such as the effects of a family member’s death or the impact of mental illness on a family member, and how these themes pervade our lives. Hereditary is a profoundly depressing and unsettling film about a family who are in a condition of decline due to no fault of their own, even without the Paimon-related elements. The true terror of Hereditary is that.

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