There’s so much going on in Ari Aster’s Hereditary that’s almost impossible to keep track of who – or what – is even pulling the strings (or piano wire, if you’re Toni Collette’s character). Despite all the overt horrors on display in this modern paranormal classic, there’s the uneasy feeling that nothing is quite what it seems.
It would be easy to take the events of Hereditary at face value. The tragic events taking place are just a matter of chance. Once you know how the movie ends, however, you start to notice the Cult of Paimon might be much better at working from the shadows than they seem. In the end, nothing in Hereditary is coincidental; it’s all meticulously crafted by the Cult, as keen-eyed film fans theorize.
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Undercover Cultists
The Cult’s presence is felt throughout Hereditary’s darkest moments, but something you might have missed is that they never leave the Graham family alone. From the start, the Cult influenced Peter to join their ranks, whether he liked it or not. Even seemingly innocuous scenes hide darker secrets. Beyond that, some characters we see early on in the film are later revealed to be cultists – but what if everyone was in on the Cult’s plans?
Let’s take a look at one very early scene before everything goes to hell. Peter and his friends are casually smoking pot at school. Nothing too diabolical about it, right? Except some viewers noticed some of Peter’s friends later show up as Cult members in the film’s climax. Talk about some serious foreshadowing.
But what if the Cult needed someone to get much closer to Peter? Someone who would infiltrate Paimon’s chosen in a much more intimate way?
Bridget’s Secrets
Bridget, Peter’s love interest, is a much more complex character than you’d think the first time you watch Hereditary. She seems to be a stranger to all the demonic drama going on behind the scenes – but what if she was instrumental in both luring Peter into the Cult and getting rid of Charlie?
In one particular scene, Peter is checking Bridget’s Facebook profile, where she has the usual teenage stuff. Unless you look a bit closer, and realize she’s striking Paimon’s signature hand gesture. It’s a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, but one that flips the script on Bridget entirely, especially considering she’s partially “responsible” for Peter leaving Charlie alone at that fateful house party.
Also, this is the same scene where we learn that her last name is “Molpe,” a rather strange family name for a white girl in Utah, especially considering it belongs to a siren in Greek mythology – you know, those creatures who lured sailors to their deaths. Nothing weird about that.
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Walnuts, Parties, and Decapitations
Speaking of weird things, who eats walnut cake at a high school house party? Charlie’s allergic reaction plays an integral part in her demise, and also in fulfilling the Cult’s wicked prophecy. The fact that the cake just so happens to contain the one thing Charlie can’t eat is almost too perfect for the Cult – as if they counted on Charlie eating the cake as part of their scheme.
Keen-eyed Hereditary fans are convinced the Cult itself orchestrated the party, making sure Peter brought Charlie along just so they could get rid of her and make the entire thing look like an accident. I mean, that sounds possible, though there’s little to no evidence that the people at the party knew Charlie was allergic to walnuts. It’s not like they were watching old-timey videos of people getting beheaded, anticipating Charlie’s impending doom. Oh, they were? Never mind, then. The Cult totally orchestrated the entire thing.
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