Is Hereditary 2 Happening? Don’t Lose Your Head, But Ari Aster Has An Idea

The prospect of a “Hereditary” sequel is a curious one, solely because the original movie, you know, doesn’t readily lend itself to one. Aster’s film, in summation, centers on Annie Graham (Toni Collette), a miniatures artist who is still mourning the recent loss of her mother — a figure who, like virtually all parents in Aster’s films, is a source of discomfort and anxiety rather than one of comfort — when tragedy strikes again, further alienating her from the rest of her family. Eventually, Annie learns her mother belonged to a cult that worships the demon king Paimon and wishes to use her teen son Peter (Alex Wolff) as a vessel for the entity to enter our world. One thing leads to another and, wouldn’t you know it, Peter ends up becoming a host to Paimon, with the rest of his family having now been killed.

So far as conclusions go, the ending to “Hereditary” is pretty self-contained and seems to leave nary a plot thread dangling for a sequel to pick up. Then again, you could say the same thing about a lot of horror classics that would go on to receive multiple follow-ups. Still, one assumes the lack of an obvious place to go with the story from there is the main reason why Aster used the film’s critical and commercial success to get other original projects green-lit, rather than charging full speed ahead into a franchise the way other low-budget horror hits have (see: “Saw,” “Paranormal Activity,” “Insidious,” “The Purge,” and so on).