If you’re a fan of Ari Aster’s harrowing 2018 horror film Hereditary, you know the feeling of being completely shaken to your core by a movie. Hereditary is a masterclass in slow-burn psychological terror, dysfunctional family dynamics, and shocking moments of visceral horror. It’s the kind of film that sticks with you long after the credits roll.
So if you’ve seen Hereditary and are hungry for more movies that deliver a similar punch, look no further. We’ve compiled a list of the 16 best films to watch if you loved Hereditary. From cult classics to modern indie gems, these movies share DNA with Hereditary in their ability to get under your skin and stay there. Let’s dive in.
1. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Directed by: Roman Polanski
No list of Hereditary-esque movies would be complete without Rosemary’s Baby, Roman Polanski’s 1968 occult classic. The film follows a young couple, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy (John Cassavetes), who move into a new apartment with some rather eccentric neighbors. When Rosemary becomes pregnant, she grows increasingly paranoid that her neighbors have sinister plans for her unborn child.
Like Hereditary, Rosemary’s Baby is a slow-burn that builds an almost unbearable sense of dread through its deliberate pacing, unsettling atmosphere, and powerhouse lead performance from Mia Farrow. It’s a landmark of psychological horror that clearly influenced Aster’s film.
2. The Witch (2015)
Directed by: Robert Eggers
Set in 17th century New England, The Witch follows a Puritan family banished from their colony and forced to live on the edge of a foreboding forest. Strange and sinister things begin to happen, especially to the family’s eldest daughter Thomasin, played by a mesmerizing Anya Taylor-Joy in her breakout role.
The Witch shares Hereditary’s fascination with dark family secrets, ancient evil, and the occult. It’s a meticulously crafted period piece that feels like stepping into a nightmare from another era. Eggers’ direction creates a suffocating sense of paranoia and despair that will feel very familiar to fans of Hereditary.
3. Midsommar (2019)
Directed by: Ari Aster
Of course, we have to include Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary. While Midsommar trades the dark interiors and demonic imagery of Hereditary for sun-drenched fields and pagan rituals, it’s no less disturbing. The film follows a group of American students who travel to Sweden for a midsummer festival that turns out to be run by a pagan cult.
Midsommar is a break-up movie wrapped in a folk horror nightmare. It’s a slow descent into madness, punctuated by moments of shocking violence and one of the most haunting final shots in recent memory. If you liked Hereditary for its ability to create a sense of unease that builds to almost unbearable levels, Midsommar delivers that in spades.
4. The Babadook (2014)
Directed by: Jennifer Kent
The Babadook is an Australian psychological horror film about a single mother, Amelia, struggling to raise her troubled son Samuel after the death of her husband. When a mysterious children’s book about a monster called the Babadook appears in their home, Samuel becomes convinced the creature is real.
Like Hereditary, The Babadook is a deeply unsettling exploration of grief, motherhood, and inherited trauma. It’s also a visually striking film, with a shadowy expressionistic style that makes the ordinary feel threatening. Essie Davis gives a raw, unhinged performance as Amelia that rivals Toni Collette’s work in Hereditary.
5. Kill List (2011)
Directed by: Ben Wheatley
Kill List is a British crime thriller with strong horror elements, following a former soldier turned hitman who takes on a new assignment that leads him down a rabbit hole of occult conspiracy. It’s a genre-bending film that starts as a gritty crime drama and slowly morphs into something much stranger and more sinister.
Like Hereditary, Kill List deals with the aftermath of trauma and the ways it can twist a family. It’s also a film that rewards close attention, with a complex mythology bubbling beneath the surface and a final act that will leave your jaw on the floor. If you like your horror mixed with a dose of surreal, unclassifiable weirdness, check out Kill List.
6. The Wailing (2016)
Directed by: Na Hong-jin
The Wailing is a sprawling, ambitious South Korean horror epic about a policeman investigating a series of mysterious deaths and illnesses in a remote village. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a web of shamanism, demonic possession, and ancient curses.
Clocking in at over two and a half hours, The Wailing is a slow burn in the truest sense, but it’s never boring. Like Hereditary, it’s a film that takes its time building an atmosphere of mounting dread, punctuated by bursts of shocking violence and disturbing imagery. It’s a complex, challenging film that rewards multiple viewings and will leave you pondering its mysteries long after it ends.
7. It Comes At Night (2017)
Directed by: Trey Edward Shults
Set in a world ravaged by an unnamed plague, It Comes At Night follows a family holed up in a remote cabin who take in another desperate family seeking shelter. Paranoia and mistrust build between the two families as the threat of the outside world creeps ever closer.
While It Comes At Night is more of a post-apocalyptic thriller than a traditional horror film, it shares Hereditary’s suffocating sense of dread and its focus on the darkness lurking within family dynamics. Shults creates an almost unbearably tense atmosphere, where every shadow and sound could be a threat. It’s a minimalist, ambiguous film that trusts the audience to fill in the gaps with their own fears.
8. The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)
Directed by: Oz Perkins
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (also known as February) is a chilling psychological horror film set at a nearly empty boarding school over winter break. Two students, Kat and Rose, are left behind to face a mysterious evil force.
Like Hereditary, The Blackcoat’s Daughter is a slow burn that relies more on atmosphere and suggestion than overt scares. It’s a film drenched in wintry dread, with long, eerily quiet takes that allow the unease to seep into your bones. Perkins, the son of Psycho star Anthony Perkins, proves himself a master of understated horror, crafting a film that gets under your skin and stays there.
9. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
Directed by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian psychological horror film about twin boys who begin to suspect that their mother, recently returned home after facial surgery, may not be who she seems. As they investigate, the tension between mother and sons takes increasingly dark and violent turns.
Goodnight Mommy shares Hereditary’s interest in the horror of family, the fear that the people closest to us may not be what they seem. It’s a visually stunning film, with a crisp, modernist aesthetic that contrasts sharply with the increasingly brutal events unfolding onscreen. Like Hereditary, it’s a film that will leave you reeling and questioning what you just saw.
10. The Lodge (2019)
Directed by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
From the directors of Goodnight Mommy, The Lodge is another chilling exploration of familial distrust and psychological breakdown. It follows a soon-to-be stepmom snowed in with her fiancé’s two children at a remote holiday cabin. As strange events occur, the line between reality and delusion begins to blur.
Like Hereditary, The Lodge is a masterclass in building tension and dread through atmosphere and psychological horror rather than cheap jump scares. It’s a slow-burn nightmare that will leave you questioning what’s real and what’s imagined. And like Toni Collette in Hereditary, Riley Keough gives a mesmerizing performance as a woman on the brink of madness.
11. The Invitation (2015)
Directed by: Karyn Kusama
The Invitation follows a man attending a dinner party at his ex-wife’s house, where he becomes increasingly suspicious that something is amiss among the guests. It’s a slow-burn thriller that builds to a shattering climax, exploring grief, cult mentality, and the limits of social etiquette.
Like Hereditary, The Invitation is a film that understands the horror of social anxiety, the fear that everyone around you is in on something that you’re not. It’s a tightly-wound, claustrophobic film that keeps you guessing until the very end. While it may not have the supernatural elements of Hereditary, it shares its sense of mounting unease and its exploration of trauma’s lingering effects.
12. Relic (2020)
Directed by: Natalie Erika James
Relic is an Australian horror drama about three generations of women – grandmother Edna, mother Kay, and daughter Sam – grappling with Edna’s dementia in their decaying family home. As Edna’s condition worsens, the house itself seems to manifest her inner decay.
Like Hereditary, Relic uses the language of horror to explore very real and relatable fears around aging, death, and inherited trauma. It’s a haunting and heartbreaking film, with a claustrophobic atmosphere that makes the familiar feel deeply unsettling. Emily Mortimer, Robyn Nevin, and Bella Heathcote all give raw, vulnerable performances as women struggling to hold on to each other in the face of an implacable enemy.
13. Possum (2018)
Directed by: Matthew Holness
Possum is a British psychological horror film about a disgraced children’s puppeteer who returns to his childhood home, where he is haunted by memories of abuse and the sinister puppet he can’t seem to get rid of. It’s a surreal, nightmarish film that blurs the line between reality and delusion.
Like Hereditary, Possum is a film that understands the horror of trauma, the way it can warp our perception of reality. It’s a deeply unsettling watch, with a grimy, decaying aesthetic that feels like a bad dream you can’t wake up from. Sean Harris gives a mesmerizing performance as a man unraveling under the weight of his past.
14. Saint Maud (2019)
Directed by: Rose Glass
Saint Maud is a British psychological horror film about a devoutly religious hospice nurse who becomes obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient. As Maud’s grip on reality starts to slip, her faith takes on increasingly dark and dangerous forms.
Like Hereditary, Saint Maud is a film that understands the horror of obsession, the way a single idea can consume a person’s entire being. It’s a visually stunning film, with a muted palette and a claustrophobic 4:3 aspect ratio that traps us inside Maud’s increasingly fractured psyche. Morfydd Clark gives a revelatory performance as Maud, making us empathize with her even as we watch her descend into madness.
15. Pyewacket (2017)
Directed by: Adam MacDonald
Pyewacket is a Canadian horror film about a teenage girl who performs an occult ritual to summon a witch to kill her mother, only to regret it when the curse starts to take effect. It’s a coming-of-age story wrapped in a supernatural horror tale, exploring the anger and resentment that can fester in parent-child relationships.
Like Hereditary, Pyewacket understands the horror of words that can’t be unsaid, actions that can’t be undone. It’s a small, intimate film that relies on strong performances and a pervasive sense of unease rather than flashy effects or jump scares. Nicole Muñoz is compelling as Leah, a teenager grappling with grief, guilt, and powers beyond her control.
16. The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
Directed by: Bryan Bertino
Set on a secluded farm, The Dark and the Wicked follows adult siblings Louise and Michael as they return home to say goodbye to their dying father. As strange and terrifying events begin to occur around the house, they start to suspect that an evil presence is preying on their family.
The Dark and the Wicked shares Hereditary’s sense of inescapable dread, the feeling that something wicked has taken root and can’t be shaken off. It’s a relentlessly bleak and terrifying film, with an ending that will haunt you long after the credits roll. Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr. give raw, emotionally wrought performances as siblings grappling with grief, guilt, and an evil beyond their understanding.
These 16 films all share DNA with Hereditary in their ability to unsettle, disturb, and get under your skin. They understand that the most effective horror often comes from the most human places – the darkness within families, the trauma we inherit, the obsessions that consume us.
Whether you’re looking for more supernatural horror in the vein of Hereditary’s demonic imagery, or more grounded psychological terror exploring similar themes of grief and family dysfunction, there’s something on this list for every fan of Aster’s modern classic.
So dim the lights, settle in, and prepare to be disturbed all over again. These films may not have the exact same story as Hereditary, but they all deliver on its promise of lingering, unforgettable horror. Just don’t blame us if you have trouble sleeping afterwards.
