Horror enthusiasts are still baffled that Ari Aster’s first hit didn’t lead to an Oscar nomination

Horror movies always seem to get the cold shoulder when it comes to awards season, and in many circumstances, we can’t understand why. Horror films have a way of getting into our brains, eliciting strong and primal emotions from us, and isn’t that what art is all about? One such film is 2008’s Hereditary, which fans believe deserved so much more critical recognition than it received.

Hereditary was director Ari Aster’s first feature film debut, and we can safely say he knocked it out of the park. The film is not only deeply disturbing but masterfully directed, with a fantastic music score, great cinematography, and truly phenomenal performances from all the cast, especially Toni Collette and Alex Wolff. If you strip away the horror element, what you are dealing with is a dysfunctional family struggling with one of the most tragic things that can happen, and both Collette and Wolff are mesmerizing to watch in their roles as mother and son that are unable to communicate through their grief.

Though the film did receive widespread critical acclaim, with Collette and Wolff picking up a smattering of nominations and awards from lesser-known awarding bodies, they were not recognized for their performances by any of the bigger awarding organizations. The film was snubbed by the Acadamy Awards, the BAFTAs, and Golden Globes as many horror films often are, which left many fans a little put out.

Even to this day, people are still discovering the fantastic horror film and are left wondering why on earth there wasn’t more recognition for both the director and his stars.

This OP points out some of the moments in Hereditary that they believe earned Collette her Oscar, including the difficult-to-watch dinner scene. Many other Reddit users jumped on the bandwagon to celebrate Collette in general.

But many pointed out that horrors just do not get the same look in at the higher levels.

Some started to point out other horror or horror-esque films where they believe the actor was also snubbed, such as Mia Goth in Pearl.

Many pointed out just how raw Collette’s performance was, and noted another actor that gave his all for very little recognition.

For some, Collette’s heart-rending performance was so good, it could only be absorbed once.

In terms of horror, only a very select few gain any recognition from these award institutions.

One person did put forward though, that the nominees for Best Actress were very strong that year, and they don’t know who they would have bumped off to make space for Collette.

We all know that Collette is a powerhouse of an actor, no award is needed to cement that, but it would be nice though if these bigger awarding bodies would stop treating horror films as if they were lesser and start recognizing the genre for its artistic merit.