For the last decade, A24 has been advocating for adventurous auteurs and championing the narratives no one else wanted to make.
Remind you of someone?
IMAX, the company that looked at OPPENHEIMER, (a complex and contemplative film about the most pivotal war machine ever invented) and said “summer blockbuster” -- has joined forces with A24 to bring back a diverse slate of titles in all-new remastered versions with enhanced visuals and sound. From last year’s PI anniversary remaster to STOP MAKING SENSE to our current bring-back series, ambition breeds ambition, and there are no more natural partners out there.
A match made in cinematic heaven, if you will.
The current series launched with the tenth anniversary of Adam Garland’s EX MACHINA, with HEREDITARY coming up next. Get hyped for the release by revisiting some of the most powerful scenes from the film that you'll definitely want to experience in IMAX.
Warning: Spoilers abound!
“I AM YOUR MOTHER!”
Ari Aster’s debut feature HEREDITARY hit cinemas in 2018. Made for $10 million, it went on to gross $82.8 million at the box office – not bad for a brooding family drama from a director who wasn’t quite a household name yet.
While Toni Collette demon-possessed and perched on an attic ceiling delivers huge scares every time, our vote for a scene that truly sings in IMAX is less directly action-packed, but no less adrenaline pumping.
After a freak accident results in Peter being responsible for the death of his sister Charlie, the grieving teen endures an intense dinner with his parents. Brimming with a sort of existential agony, the family quietly tries to carry on, but the pressure ultimately reaches a crescendo. What results is a fierce monologue by matriarch Annie, played by Collette. Feeding on fear, regret, and the looming, incurable sadness now plaguing their trio, she delivers a passionate performance that leaps off the screen when experienced in IMAX. Heartbreak, combined with a mother’s rage at the loss of not just one child, but in essence two, gains ever more power and prominence on IMAX screens.
THWACK!
It's a scene that just gets under your skin. In the flash of a second, you know the film’s world has changed for the characters in an irreparable way. After accidentally consuming nuts at a party, Charlie begins going into anaphylactic shock. As her brother races to the hospital, Charlie thrashes in the backseat, clutching her neck in a visceral moment of horror. But Aster doesn't let us off that easy.
A memorable enough moment the first time around, the infamous telephone pole scene reaches devastating new heights when experienced in IMAX. You may know it’s coming, but between the sound immersion and larger than life picture, you will truly feel inside of the universe of the movie. This is one of those scenes where the IMAX presentation really sings. Or rather, terrifies.
The morning after the accident, the camera stays locked on a numb Peter in bed, as Annie screams outside. In the script, Aster describes it as "almost inhuman sounding." We cut to the roadside to see Charlie's decaying head, grotesque and riddled with bugs, as wails still reverberate. Amplifying the sheer wretchedness of what has happened, it's a choice that elevates the moment, saving the truly wicked parts for an impactful finish.
"A RAGING BALL OF FLAMES”
It’s hard to be the voice of reason in a universe built on insanity. For father Steve, played by Gabriel Byrne, it would be challenge enough to deal with everything happening to his family that's rooted in reality – death, his wife’s loosening grip on her mental state, a son who’s just busted his own face open. But then there’s all of the other stuff- seances, what he is pretty sure is his mother-in-law's headless body in their attic, and conspiracy theories about some sort of cult magic.
Expertly paced by Aster, in a sequence that lasts just under ten minutes, Steve brings home his injured son, discovers the attic corpse, and is subjected to his wife’s hysterics about the dark forces following them. His absolute final straw comes as Annie franticly pleads with him to burn Charlie’s sketchbook, something she hopes will take the evil away.
Disgusted, he coldly refuses, so a desperate Annie tosses the book into the fireplace herself. What we get next is described in the script as "A RAGING BALL OF FLAMES". In IMAX, rage it indeed does. The flickering bright orange-red tones are heightened and the sound of flames licking about Steve’s body amid his anguished cries boom through the cinema. You'll have renewed appreciation for the tension and release of this part of the movie; a signal that we’re really about to go off of the rails, so hold on for dear life.
Honorable mention:
The film’s score- you'll leave with new appreciation for its mood setting when you experience it in IMAX sound. Take special notice of the horns section during the climax- a nod to the mythos around Paimon, where the demon-king is said to be ushered in with the sound of trumpets.
