Is ‘Hereditary’ based on a true story?
There are few modern horror movies that had quite the impact of Ari Aster’s 2018 psychological supernatural film Hereditary. Aster’s feature directorial debut starred Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd and Gabriel Byrne and told of a grieving family who experience a series of harrowing and demonic events following the death of their peculiar and secretive grandmother.
Aster had already worked on a handful of short horror movies, which then caught the eye of A24, who quickly greenlit Hereditary. What followed was a universally acclaimed horror movie with an excellent score by Colin Stetson, and the film eternally wrote itself into the long, bloody and haunted history of horror cinema.
As the Graham family discover more about their ancestral history, they become wrapped up in the terror of supernatural and psychological horror, and Hereditary explores the themes of grief, trauma and despair, the likes of which found resonance with several members of its audience, leading some of them to ask whether or not the film had been based on a true story.
The short answer to this question is that Hereditary was written entirely as a work of fiction by Ari Aster and is, therefore, not based on a true story. However, like many of the best works of the horror genre, Aster included a handful of narrative and thematic facets that indeed relate to real life, or at least to the occultist lore of history.
This sense of reality relates to the malevolent presence of Paimon in the film, an evil entity that serves as the main antagonist and narrative driving force. Ellen, the Graham family’s grandmother, is discovered to have been worshipping Paimon along with a coven of fellow occultists and had put the wheels in action for the entity to embody her grandson, Peter, via granddaughter Charlie and daughter Annie – with the hopes of him reigning over Earth as one of the lords of the underworld.
Paimon is believed in occultist texts and lore to be one of Lucifer’s most devoted followers and first appeared in an anonymously written grimoire called the Lesser Key of Solomon, which dates back to the mid-17th century. Paimon’s name had also cropped up in several other grimoire texts, including the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer and the Dictionaire Infernal by Jacques Auguste Simon Collin de Plancy, plus the works of British occultist Aleister Crowley.
Now, Aster certainly takes creative liberties with his depiction of Paimon in Hereditary, say the triangular symbol that is meant to represent its worship, but its mystery allows for the film to build in narrative tension. Possibly dating back to pre-Christian times, Aster’s Paimon, therefore, seems to transcend time, making the entity ever more fearsome, unholy and malevolently powerful.
By actually using occultist mythology as a source for his film’s antagonist, Aster was able to give his iconic horror film a deep sense of reality, which only serves to contribute to its terrifying nature and lasting impact on its audience. The fear of Paimon continues to ring in the hearts and minds of those brave enough to watch Hereditary long after the credits have rolled and Paimon has inhabited the body of Peter Graham.
So, while Hereditary may indeed be a purely cinematic construct and a work of fiction, it has at least some roots in reality. The horror movie is certainly not based on a true story, and the tragic and harrowing events that transpire throughout the film are purely an artistic creation of Aster’s, but the director wove in just enough reality to make his piece of cinema all the more terrifyingly memorable.
How old is Paimon in Hereditary?
In Ari Aster’s supernatural horror film Hereditary, Paimon is depicted as a malevolent spirit who is worshipped by a cult. The actual age of Paimon is never revealed, but the historical lore surrounding it goes back several centuries, if not millennia, way back into the occultist traditions of old.
Listed in the Lesser Key of Solomon, a 17th-century grimoire that informs readers how to summon a range of demonic entities, Paimon is revealed to be a powerful king of the underworld who rules over many spirits. However, in Hereditary, where Paimon is detailed as an evil possessive entity, its age is left open, suggesting that it is a being that transcends time, having haunted the film’s family for many generations.
