Martin Scorsese on the Unforgettable Horror of Hereditary

In our latest Cinema Stories video, Martin Scorsese sharing his admiration and respect for Ari Aster's debut feature, Hereditary. Speaking to Kent Jones during the 57th New York Film Festival, where The Irishman was the Opening Night selection, a busy Scorsese recalls how Hereditary stopped him in his tracks, expertly revealing a complex portrait of a family in grief while inviting comparisons to the finest horror films ever made. Watch the clip below and don’t forget to mark your calendar for the 58th New York Film Festival taking place September 17–October 11, which this year will be presented through a combination of virtual and drive-in screenings. 

A well-told story can be as absorbing and affecting shared during a live Q&A as it can be delivered on the silver screen. Launched earlier this summer, our Cinema Stories video series spotlights meaningful moments of film history, artistic influences, and personal anecdotes captured during intimate conversations with filmmakers at Film at Lincoln Center over the years.

[ferox]

That Toni Collette didn't get an Oscar for this movie is disgraceful. That was one of the most intense performances I've ever seen by anyone.

[Sam-dmvh]

This is Aster's FIRST *FEATURE* FILM and he's being praised by Martin Scorsese! Mind blowing.

[tyrannosaurusburke]

"Hereditary" was the best film of 2018, yet it received 0 Oscar nominations and 0 Golden Globe nominations. These award shows have a flagrant bias against horror movies.

[sushi_donut]

Imagine being complimented that way from freaking MARTY SCORSESSEEEE...jeez.

[rawkrXbabee]

Toni Collettes cry after you know who died, just shook me

[PalmurcioWorld]

If Martin Freaking Scorsese praised my FIRST film I would probably faint and die at peace.

[garyrobertson]

Toni Colette is one of the finest actresses of this time.

[nigeldean]

I usually don't find movies like this too scary but this movie legit freaked me out. So good

[Fancy_PotHead]

Sometimes, i wake in the middle of the night, and i think about the mom on the wall and i decide i don't want to pee anymore. I'd rather die of a bladder explosion.

[vibangigan]

Its crazy the academy just doesn't recognize the mastery all over this movie.

[justinguitarcia]

The success of this film is showing real pain. The pain these characters felt is a real pain people feel. That's the delicate dance of hyperbole. You don't have to have the events that occured in this movie happen to you to share in that deep, primordial sense of loss. The horror storytelling exists to elevate and transfer this message via the medium of horror but the story being told here, one of a family destroyed, is a genuine story. To me the greatest horror achieves this in a way no other genre or medium can

[tupacca]

“It’s about family, and that’s what’s so powerful about it.”

[bfunderb]

I just see it as a movie about the insanity of grief. I had lost my dad after a long and absolutely brutal decline from a stroke, not long before it came out, and I actually found Hereditary therapeutic.

[Redwoodtree]

Forget other scenes in the film, the dinner table scene with his son in the movie was simply outstanding. What a brilliant actress, the pause, the rawness, the breath, the intensity, the expressions, dialogue delivery everything was brilliant. Toni Collette is my favourite. The hereditary is one of the best horror films because of its unconventional approach! I don't care what people thinks of that film, I loved it! I wish more filmmakers/creators would think to make films like the hereditary.

[kuruptzZz]

I still remember being floored by toni collette's masterful acting in the sixth sense, the scene in the car where she finally learns about her son's "gift". And she is still outdoing herself. One of the greatest actors ever

[straightcody]

The first time I watched this movie, I didn't even realize how good the actors were because I was the most freaked out I have ever been from a movie. The second time I watched it, I was blown away by the acting, (all the non-horror stuff, the family dynamic as Scorsese mentions). It just locks in your attention.

[j.]

Hereditary stuck with me for days, if not weeks, I kept seeing the grandmother floating up my stairs towards me, scared the bejesus out of me. Great filmmaking!

[callyslady]

Her neck, with the dental floss movement. That was over the edge.

[Robever]

I saw Hereditary about a year ago. I was mesmerized by the slow burn of the film. The intensity grew with each passing scene. I love how the family was being controlled, to some degree, without them having a conscious idea if it. I never liked horror films because they seem more comical for some of their ridiculous nature than scary to me. But this movie gave me the chills. I got the same feeling from the Nicole Kidman film, "The Others". Very clever story telling in both films.

[sanathgunawardena]

This film completely traumatised me.
I never recovered