Religion as Abjection in Hereditary

"You didn't kill her, Annie."

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Hereditary is another widely acclaimed modern horror film that follows in the footsteps of The Babadook and It Follows to revolve around the monstrosity of femininity. Hereditary is more akin to the former since it portrays the negative actions of a grieving mother in a dysfunctional family while the latter is more about the evils of free-spirited female sexual activity. What does set Hereditary apart from The Babadook, however, is how each film builds up the monstrous-feminine abjection and what ultimately occurs to release the film’s abjection. The Babadook portrayed more of a tradition victory over supernatural forces while Hereditary went in a different direction.

Often in the horror genre, the main characters seek a way to fight whatever otherworldly force they are up against. One of the most popular ways to combat such a force and abjection is to turn to religion. This can be seen in both canonical horror films like The Exorcist and cult classics (as in cult following, not a religious cult) like Fright Night, even if that film is not really a representation of the monstrous-feminine. Barbara Creed explains how Julia Kristeva, whom Creed bases much of her discussion off of, argues that “historically, it has been the function of religion to purify the abject,” (Creed, 73). The purification that religion provides is usually done through some sort of exaggerated ritual to cleanse away the evil. Religion is utilized differently in Hereditary than it has historically been in horror. The ending of the film sees a cult conjure a demon, who is a prince of hell nonetheless, into Peter’s body. Although this ending feels undeserved, it presents an interesting inverse of the role that religion usually plays in horror films. Rather than acting as a tool for the main characters to use to defeat the abject, it is instead an amplification of the abject. The abject uses religion to destroy everything that resists it. It still uses religion as means to cleanse, it is just cleansing the resistance instead. This positions religion not as a symbol and tool of purification, but rather the subject of abjection itself.

Does Hereditary’s use of religion and rituals make it more of an occult film? It could be labeled as such. However, since the satanic followers do not have much of a presence until the end of the film, and Ari Aster insistence on describing it as a “family drama that curdles into a nightmare” rather than a supernatural horror story, I would not categorize it as directly an occult film. I also think it is more interesting to look it at more as a direct contrast to the ways other horror films use religion as a means to purification. Aster’s 2019 film, Midsommar, explores religion again as the subject of abjection. Unlike Hereditary, it is very much an occult film, albeit not a supernatural one though. Perhaps Aster has had a negative personal experience with religion, as it seems to be the one constant evil in each of his recent films.