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‘Hereditary’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

October 22, 2024 · Hereditary (2018) · Drama · Horror · Mystery · 1:34:39 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

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Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 29:36Annie and the support group scene, and the party scene leading to Charlie's death
Chris Ryan▶ 36:04Emphasizes the last 40 minutes of the movie as rewatchable content you'd stop on when channel surfing
Sean Fennessey▶ 30:41Agrees with the support group scene, praising the cinematography and Toni Collette's performance; also discusses the party/accident sequence

What's Aged the Best

Bill Simmons▶ 46:56The horror movie score - the sounds and creaks that create an unsettling atmosphere, comparing it to The Shining's approach of making weird noises

What's Aged the Worst

Chris Ryan▶ 47:39The hitting-your-face thing / self-harm trope has been ripped off by other movies like Talk to Me, Long Legs, and Smile
Sean Fennessey▶ 47:49Agrees that the self-harm element has become a trope but acknowledges this movie was ahead of that trend

Den of Thieves Benihana Award

Bill Simmons▶ 50:37The house

Big Kahuna Burger Award

Bill Simmons▶ 51:11Chocolate bars
Sean Fennessey▶ 51:19Walnut cake that Charlie eats

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 52:08The movie was hard to understand on first viewing - you need to see it multiple times to put the pieces together
Chris Ryan▶ 51:31Peter's friends could have had a little bit more definition
Sean Fennessey▶ 51:31Peter's friends could have had more definition, particularly his potential girlfriend character

Is There a Better Title?

Bill Simmons▶ 57:41No, Hereditary is good

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:01:05Making a horror movie about hell is not hard - it's a blank slate, nobody knows what hell is like, so you can basically do anything
Chris Ryan▶ 59:33If Paimon calls, you have the meeting - rather than get everybody in the family decapitated, maybe you just get your smartest guys in a room and talk it out
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:00:11The cultists are onto something, but only with regard to not wearing clothes - if I've got Paimon, I don't need clothes, there's no such thing as shame or embarrassment

Would Roger Ebert Have Liked This Movie

Chris Ryan▶ 1:02:27Asked if the AI was used to predict what Ebert would say about Melissa George.

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 1:07:23Movie is over two hours long
Chris Ryan▶ 1:07:30Deleted scene where Peter goes to Charlie's treehouse to sleep and finds his mom already there, which freaks him out

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:41Everything Everywhere All at Once — A24 - Everything Everywhere All at Once
Chris Ryan▶ 1:09:07Toni Collette — Toni Collette - initially says yes to this movie, but suggests Little Miss Sunshine was more career-defining
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:24Toni Collette — Toni Collette - uncertain, notes she's been in many big movies including Knives Out

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:10:16Questions about Annie's knowledge of Joan's relationship with her mother, how Annie got married given her issues, and various plot logistics
Chris Ryan▶ 1:11:51Questions about whether Pete smokes too much weed and if one of Peter's friends being in the cult makes sense with the broader conspiracy
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:10:09Multiple questions including whether the allergy attack was Paimon's doing ('That's payment'), if Paimon compelled Charlie to eat the cake, and whether the cult orchestrated various events

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Sean Fennessey▶ 1:16:55If the sex is good enough, you will allow the eighth king of hell to enter your life

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:22:19Samuel L. Jackson — Lists a series of actors (Wayne Jenkins, Danny Trejo, Sam Jackson, JT Walsh, Byron Mayo, Harley Mays, Evil Laffin' Roman Raymond, Phil Baker Hall) and suggests Sam Jackson as the teacher, then devolves into non-sequiturs about 'fate' and 'Payman'.
Chris Ryan▶ 1:22:41Harling Mays as one of Peter's friends, responding to Peter's confession of decapitating his sister with 'open up for the banana boat, big dog'.

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:23:14Toni Collette

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 1:25:05The Ice Storm
Chris Ryan▶ 1:25:06The Exorcist III
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:25:39Rosemary's Baby

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:28:07Ari Aster
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:28:10Ari Aster

Movies Referenced (55)

The Exorcist (1973)

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 10:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Halloween (1978)

10 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 6:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Midsommar (2019)

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 9:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gladiator (2000)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 1:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Smile (2022)

7 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 29:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Scream (1996)

6 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 8:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lincoln (2012)

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 54:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Shining (1980)

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 9:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 18:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Blair Witch (2016)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 8:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rebel Ridge (2024)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 2:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 26:38IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (7)

Payman Benz

41 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 19:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ari Aster

9 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid▶ 6:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Iyi Tubi

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Ex Machina, World War Z▶ 2:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rob Zombie

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Devil's Rejects, The Lords of Salem▶ 0:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Aurian Redson

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Brother Bear, Bolt▶ 1:25:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Carpenter

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Dark Star, Halloween▶ 50:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

M. Night Shyamalan

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Signs, Lady in the Water, The Village▶ 8:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (49)

Gabriel Byrne

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Usual Suspects, End of Days, Miller's Crossing▶ 14:56IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tom Hanks

9 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Cast Away, Big, Forrest Gump▶ 24:44IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jeremy Strong

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Big Short, The Trial of the Chicago 7▶ 55:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Bob Cousy

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Celtic Pride, Blue Chips▶ 37:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Andy Garcia

5 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Ocean's Eleven, The Godfather Part III▶ 37:15IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ellen Barkin

5 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Drop Dead Gorgeous, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension▶ 15:12IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ouija Whittemore

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 40:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Colin Stetson

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Hereditary, Color Out of Space▶ 50:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Denzel Washington

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Fences, The Book of Eli▶ 1:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Joni Mitchell

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Two Weeks Notice, CODA, Vanilla Sky▶ 50:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lucas Hedges

3 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Manchester by the Sea, Lady Bird▶ 1:03:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Toni Collette

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, Hereditary▶ 20:41IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Roger Ebert

8 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 5:04IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jordan Belfort

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Wolf of Wall Street▶ 1:17:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Mike Flanagan

2 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Life of Chuck▶ 1:20:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Akira Kurosawa

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Ran, The Hidden Fortress▶ 1:11:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗