10 Disturbing Movies Like Hereditary You Must Watch Tonight

Ari Aster’s modern horror gem Hereditary was one of the best movies of the 2010s, and now people want to see more movies like it. Movies like Hereditary has a lot of similarities to other horror movies. This is because a lot of movies have dealt with similar themes, like how pain can be passed down from generation to generation or how the Graham family practices witchcraft. Toni Collette gave an unmatched performance as Annie, the mother who has been scarred, but other horror movies also had performances that were just as strong.

Fans of Ari Aster’s amazing work should go back and watch some of the true classics of the horror genre that helped shape this magical story. Hereditary was one of the best horror movies I can remember seeing. Because Aster has a unique style, people may also want to see his other work to see how it compares to Hereditary, which is his masterpiece. Hereditary was one of the most important horror movies of the 21st century, but it was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to strong and effective psychological horror movies.

10 Disturbing Movies Like Hereditary:

1. The Lodge (2019):

The Lodge is a must-see for Hereditary fans. There are a lot of unsettling similarities, from small, strange details like the miniature buildings and people that show up at important times to convey plot information and tonal shifts to bigger ones like the instability of domestic roles, trauma and grief in the family, and a gradual blurring of reality.

The Lodge, which was directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, starts with a fast-paced, emotionally overwhelming setting. Laura Hall (Alicia Silverstone) kills herself when she learns that her ex-husband (Richard Armitage) is going to marry a woman he met while studying a Christian cult that killed a lot of people. Reily Keough, his new fiancée, grew up in the group and is the only one who lived through its end. He plans a trip for all of his kids to go to their remote winter house soon after his ex-wife dies because he thinks it would be good for them to get to know their new stepmother better. It might have been okay if they had all left at the same time. But because the dad has to stay back for work, the woman takes care of the kids by herself. When children want to get back at the woman who is replacing their mother, the awkward growing pains of a stepfamily are taken to a whole new level.

2. Suspiria (2018):

People have strong feelings about remakes, and the Hollywood version of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic “Suspiria” has been one of the most divisive in recent years.

There’s no doubt that Argento’s first movie was brilliant and important. It’s a stunning show of maximalist production design that has built a reputation that hasn’t changed since it came out. But you could make the case that Luca Guadagnino’s remake, which is based on the original idea but is much more unsettling and has more story, stands on its own.

The movie subverts important parts of the movie that came before it. The fluorescent lights, strange rasps, and guitar melodies of Goblin are no longer there. Thom Yorke of Radiohead writes the music for this. The dull colors used by Guadagnino add to the mood of sadness in West Berlin in the 1970s, where the main character, Susie Bannion (Dakota Johnson), has just moved from the United States. Susie shows up to try out for the Markos Dance Company, a famous German school run by Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton, one of three parts). There is soon evidence of a sinister plot within the school, as strange events and whispered accusations of witchcraft become public.

Even though this is about the 2018 version, which is a lot more movies like Hereditary, you should still try to see both. We won’t tell you which one is better because both Argento and Guadagnino are great at making scary movies.

3. Anything for Jackson (2020):

“Anything For Jackson” is a great movie that should get more attention for how great it is. Bradley Cooper wrote it and Justin G. Dyck is in charge of directing it. In Canada, they are better known for making Christmas and romance movies with families, but “Anything For Jackson” is very different. Shirley and Dr. Henry Walsh are heartbroken over the death of their beloved grandson Jackson. They are ready to do anything to get him back, even dangerous Satanic practices they don’t understand as a “reverse exorcism” to get their grandson back. This movie is hard to beat because it has great acting that’s full of pain and a scary evil force.

4. The Ritual (2017):

The Ritual has Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, and Sam Troughton in it. It was directed by David Bruckner. It came out in the year 2017.

Following the death of one of their friends in a theft, four friends from the UK decide to spend time together in the wilds of Sweden. In order to get to their goal, they have to turn around because one of them gets hurt along the way. However, along the way, they start to be killed one by one by an old evil that a cult worships.

5. Mom And Dad (2018):

There are two main types of movies like Hereditary: subversive films about cults and demonic possession, and stories that put parents against their children. There is a lot of crossover between the two types of movies. When it comes to the second type, one of the best is Brian Taylor’s 2017 black comedy Mom and Dad. The scene in Hereditary where Peter (Alex Wolff) wakes up to find his mother Annie dousing him in gasoline while she sleeps is one of the scariest. Annie is planning to burn him alive.

In Mom and Dad, the anxiety of this one scene from Hereditary is spread out over the whole 86-minute movie. The story is about an unexplained event that makes almost every parent in the United States into a psychopath who wants to kill their child. Parents all over the country kill their own children in a variety of horrible ways. The story of Mom and Dad is about Brent (Nicolas Cage) and Kendall (Selma Blair), and how their children, Carly (Anne Winters) and Joshua (Zackary Arthur), try to stay alive while their parents want to kill them.

6. Rosemary’s Baby (1968):

Not surprisingly, the famous 1968 horror movie Rosemary’s Baby was said to have influenced Aster’s writing of Hereditary. There is a clear tone echo between the two movies that makes them seem to talk to each other across the years. Rosemary’s Baby is a movie written and directed by Roman Polanksi about a young couple named Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) who have just moved into a new apartment and want to start a family. When they get there, they are welcomed by friendly but nosy neighbors. Rosemary starts to think that these people might not have the best plans for her unborn child. The movie has some of the same themes as Hereditary, like fear, the occult, and how family relationships can fall apart. A strange similarity can be found between the films’ abrupt endings, which fans will notice.

7. The Wailing (2016):

In his now-famous Golden Globes speech, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho said, “Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” “Parasite” won the award for best foreign language film in 2020. He was dead on, and horror is no different.

Movies Like Hereditary, The Wailing by Na Hong-jin is a great puzzle and horror story. The movie from 2016 is about a Japanese stranger who shows up in a remote Korean town and makes the people there sick and violent for no apparent reason. As a local police officer looks into it, his own family gets involved in the plan, which is getting stranger and scarier.

Coming in at just over two-and-a-half hours, it’s a pretty long horror movie, but Hong-jin’s story never loses its tension or interest. You’ll be wondering where the scary things are coming from right up until the shocking ending. It’s one of the best examples of Korean horror movies ever made.

8. The Feast (2021):

The Feast is a Welsh folk horror movie that is very upsetting and strange, but it is also very beautiful. It takes place in the countryside of Wales and was shot in Welsh. When you watch a horror movie, you usually think you know where the story is going. But The Feast, directed by Lee Haven Jones and written by Roger Williams, will definitely surprise you, even if you’ve seen movies like Hereditary. Annes Elwy plays the scary Cadi in the movie, along with Nia Roberts and Julian Lewis Jones.

9. The Witch (2015):

The Witch has Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, and Lucas Dawson in it. It was directed by Robert Eggers. It came out in the year 2015.

The Witch is a story about a family of Puritan farmers who are kicked out of their settlement and have to farm a harsh, empty land. One of the kids goes missing during this time, and it’s said that a local witch took her and ate her. But soon, the family father realizes that the witch is actually his own daughter.

10. Evil Dead Rise (2023):

Like Mom and Dad, Evil Dead Rise, which comes out in 2023, is a movie about kids who are against their parents. However, the newest movie in the Evil Dead series also has a lot of magical elements, which makes it a lot more like Ari Aster’s well-known horror film from 2018. When it comes to plot, Evil Dead Rise by Lee Cronin is different from the other Evil Dead movies. It’s about Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland) and her three kids, Danny (Morgan Davies), Bridget (Gabrielle Echols), and Kassie (Nell Fisher).

After an earthquake in Los Angeles, Danny finds a copy of a demon book in the bottom of their apartment building. This gives Beth an evil spirit. She quickly attacks her kids and her sister Beth (Lily Sullivan), and that’s when the bloody and scary stuff starts. Movies like Hereditary, Evil Dead Rise has a lot of disturbing images and ideas about family trauma, but it does so in a much less clever way.

Conclusion:

If Hereditary scared you, disturbed you, and made you want more mentally rich horror, this list shows that there are many more unsettling masterpieces out there just waiting to be found. Whether it’s generational pain, supernatural dread, occult symbolism, or heartbreaking family relationships, Ari Aster’s films all have the same style. Aside from Hereditary, these movies have a lot in common with it. They all have slow-burning tension and emotional destruction, like in Rosemary’s Baby, The Wailing, and newer gems like The Lodge and The Feast.

It doesn’t matter if you like creepy settings, spooky performances, or existential dread—these scary movies like Hereditary will keep you up at night. Let yourself get lost in the scary beauty of the genre’s scariest stories. Turn off the lights and put away your phone.

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