One Terrifying Scene - Annie’s Possession in Hereditary

In this video, I analyze what I think is the scariest scene from the 2018 A24 horror movie Hereditary, directed by Ari Aster. Hereditary is one of the best and most memorable horror movies I've ever seen, as its great storytelling and disturbing imagery left me unsettled throughout the entire film. But there's one sequence in particular that I will never forget. One that made me question what I was even watching. And that's Annie's possession at the end of the movie. In this episode of "One Terrifying Scene", I talk about what makes Annie's possession in Hereditary truly terrifying.

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#hereditary

0:00 what makes a movie scene scary?
0:37 what is Hereditary?
1:38 scene 1
2:42 scene 2
5:21 scene 3
7:06 a dark ending

[JeffRauseo]

Toni Collette not getting an Oscar nomination for her performance in Hereditary will go down as one of the biggest snubs in history. She not only deserved a nomination, but she deserved a win as well. It is one of the greatest performances across any genre in movie history.

[Invisible_bnes]

Another thing that i really like about this scene is through Peter's POV, he just believes that his mom is trying to kill him due to what happened to Charlie. He never learns about the cult until last second. And that is terrifying to think about as well.

[westernmonk]

I think another aspect that adds to the whole scariness of Annie’s possession is that her character is often defined by her strong willed and head strong traits, meaning it was very jarring for us to watch her slowly lose control and slip into that boundless demonic state

[gsutton]

The ONE THING I will never forget about this movie is just how dread filled it was. Most horror movies at least give you some hope even if the protagonist dies in the end. There was not a single point in this movie where I thought it was going to be a happy ending. I was so uncomfortable. Also, technically they couldn’t kill the dude cause they would’ve messed up the vessel for Paimon.

[freedomforall]

The head banging got me more than the naked man, a naked man can be fought off. I was expecting her to bang with her hands and the movement appeared very unnatural. Also her other movements like when she ran at him or crawled through the air were much slower, but the cadence of the head banging was performed at inhuman speeds sending chills down my spine.

[anubislee]

Overwhelming is definitely the right word. I've never felt so far out in deep waters then while watching this movie. The speed of the violent shift this movie takes was nearly traumatic

[kvdenVEVO]

This movie’s impact on the horror genre in general cannot be understated. Talk to Me, Skinamarink, and even big blockbusters like Smile and Malignant take so much from this film.

[drphalanges]

What I love most about this movie is that it doesn't rely on cheap jump scares, or really that many conventional scares at all. Instead it slowly turns up the anxiety until you feel like you can't take it anymore. That dinner scene was the standout for me. I felt like my heart was going to explode.

[colinatwood]

The scene where Peter says Mommy as she slams her head against the ceiling is maybe the darkest I’ve seen in cinema

[luca]

what i love the most about this movie is, that you don't know until about the last third of the movie, if they are really getting possessed or if it's just a deeply disturbed family

[NegotiableHemingway]

I think Annie chasing Peter into the attic wasn’t trying catch him but more to lure him up there for what needed to happen next. If Annie wanted to catch him she could have.

[paulcato]

Something I noticed my second time watching was, once Annie is possessed she is desperate to get her head off her body for the ritual. It makes the head banging even more gruesome to think she's just trying to get the darn thing off.

[NJglorifiedcrew]

What makes the ending special is that we are desperately trying to escape the terror Peter is experiencing in the house. When he eventually does, and succumbs to Paimon, you feel a sense of relief. Even though Peter is a demon king and Annie's headless body is floating into the treehouse, you feel better. The ethereal score and religious imagery are almost like you've entered a twisted fairytale and are now heralding the arrival of Paimon as well

[Annacapy]

The shot of the naked man in the doorway has stuck with me ever since I saw the movie back in 2018. The entire movie disturbed me, but something about the guy being completely naked and doing nothing but standing there and smiling at Peter is so uncanny and unsettling. That image is burned into my brain forever.

[kchicken]

I remember when I first watched this movie, it was a friend's house who live out in the country. We got done watching at around 12:30-1:00ish in the morning and I had to drive home by myself. I never felt more uncomfortable, anxious, or paranoid in my life than on that drive home

[Kal_Kestis]

And don’t even get my started on the “reborn” score in the final scene. Not only r we greeted with just ungodly amounts of disturbing imagery, the score completely solidifies the uneasiness and unholiness of it all

[mhiggs]

I love that clip you use in the beginning of Annie’s horror then the switch.Toni’s acting with her expression s is so cool. Her acting throughout that movie is insane and phenomenal.

[keatondj]

You hit the nail on the head with what I thought when first seeing this scene. The horror in the film up until this final scene is very psychological and based in reality. We have never seen how the demons move, how they act, what they do. We are so helpless and mortified to discover the true nature of the demons until it is too late. The shot of Annie almost swimming out of the room struck a chord in me on my first viewing; I've never felt so unnerved. And then the incessant banging on the attic door with her head was the cherry on top. They are both two of the scariest and my personal favorite shots in horror cinema.

This film truly changed my life. CHANGED MY LIFE. I'll never be able to watch any type of film the same way again because I'm not sure they'll be able to match the absolute master filmmaking of Ari Aster.

[househeadericmd]

The naked man smiling was also seen at Annie’s mother’s funeral. Just standing clothed this time with that same bizarre smile. What made this horror film a top notch winner was having actors like Toni Collette and Ann Dowd. They are two of my favorite actresses. That young girl is awesome too.

[JOEHHxFMJ]

Annie swimming away in the air is an image that is gonna haunt me forever. The finale of this movie is incredible.