Spoiler Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for Hereditary. If you haven’t seen the film, proceed with caution!
Ari Aster’s directorial debut, Hereditary, cemented his place alongside contemporary horror visionaries like Jordan Peele and Robert Eggers. More than just a jump-scare fest, Hereditary is a meticulously crafted descent into familial trauma and supernatural dread. The film masterfully blends intense family drama with creeping occult horror, culminating in an ending that has left audiences both terrified and deeply disturbed. It’s this unforgettable finale, and specifically the horrifying fate of Peter, that we’ll dissect today.
Having previously explored the shocking conclusion of Aster’s Midsommar, we now rewind to examine his first chilling masterpiece. Hereditary’s ending is a masterful culmination of the film’s intricate plot and escalating terror. To truly understand what becomes of Peter, let’s first revisit the terrifying final moments of the movie.
Recapping the Horrifying Climax of Hereditary
Pinpointing the exact start of Hereditary‘s climax is difficult due to its expertly paced build-up of suspense. However, for our recap, we’ll begin right after Annie (Toni Collette) burns Charlie’s journal, inadvertently causing her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) to be consumed by flames. That night, Peter (Alex Wolff), still reeling from his earlier head injury at school, awakens to an eerie glow emanating from the treehouse. He then witnesses a disturbing sight: his mother, Annie, impossibly crawling on the wall outside his room.
Leaving his room and navigating the increasingly unsettling house, Peter finds the furniture in the living room rearranged and his father’s charred remains by the fireplace, identified only by his wedding ring. He then sees Annie suspended in the corner of the ceiling. A naked man, the same unsettling figure from Charlie’s funeral, appears in the kitchen doorway, smiling ominously.
Annie reappears, launching herself at Peter and chasing him upstairs into the attic. He barricades himself in the attic, pleading with his mother as she relentlessly pounds on the hatch. The pounding suddenly stops, replaced by a sickening thudding. Peter cautiously surveys the candlelit attic. The body Annie discovered earlier is gone, but its outline remains, marked with a yearbook photo of a teenager where the head should be, the eyes disturbingly gouged out.
Peter, in disbelief and terror, slaps himself, attempting to wake from what he desperately hopes is a nightmare. A gruesome crunch shatters this hope as he looks up to witness the ultimate horror: his mother, suspended from the attic’s rafters, decapitating herself with razor wire. This horrific scene is interrupted by the appearance of naked figures surrounding him. Peter, in a desperate act of escape, dives through the attic window, crashing into the garden below.
Peter’s Transformation: Possession and the Rise of Paimon
As Peter lies unconscious, the sawing sound continues, culminating in the sickening thud of Annie’s body hitting the attic floor. A bright, white light descends, settling upon Peter. He rises to see his mother’s headless body levitating into the treehouse. Mimicking his deceased sister Charlie, he clucks his tongue and, as if in a trance, walks towards the treehouse, guided by lines of naked figures.
Inside the treehouse, he finds a group of bowing strangers and a disturbing tableau: a wooden model adorned with Charlie’s decapitated head wearing a wooden crown, the Paimon symbol etched on its chest. The headless bodies of Annie and his grandmother kneel before it. He then notices a framed photo of his grandmother, Leigh, labeled “Queen Leigh.”
Joan (Ann Dowd)’s calm voice breaks the silence, addressing “Peter,” assuring him of safety. She removes the crown from Charlie’s head and places it upon Peter’s, declaring,
Hey, hey, it’s alright. Charlie, you’re alright now. You are Paimon, one of the eight kings of hell. We have looked to the northwest and called you in. We’ve corrected your first female body, and give you now this healthy, male host. We reject the Trinity, and pray devoutly to you, great Paimon. Give us your knowledge of all secret things. Bring us honor, wealth, and good familiars. Bind all men to our will as we have bound ourselves for now and ever to yours.
As Joan leads the cult in praising Paimon, the camera zooms out, revealing the treehouse as part of Annie’s miniature art, and the film abruptly cuts to black. This chilling final scene leaves no doubt: Peter is no longer Peter.
Unpacking Peter’s Possession: Charlie, Paimon, and the Cult’s Plan
Joan’s dialogue makes it explicitly clear: Peter has been transformed into a vessel for King Paimon. The “Charlie, you’re alright now” indicates that Charlie’s soul, or essence, is also involved in this possession. Peter’s tongue cluck, mirroring Charlie’s habit, is the first sign of this merged entity. But why couldn’t Paimon simply inhabit Peter directly? The answer lies in the backstory revealed throughout the film.
Annie’s strained relationship with her mother, Leigh, is crucial. Leigh’s influence was deliberately kept away from Peter from birth. However, upon Charlie’s birth, Leigh seized the opportunity to become deeply involved, even insisting on being the one to feed Charlie as an infant. This was the beginning of a sinister grooming process.
Subtle clues throughout the movie foreshadow this manipulation: Charlie’s statement about her mother wishing she were a boy, Peter’s English class discussion of fatalistic tragedy, and the Paimon symbol on the telephone pole that tragically decapitates Charlie. Charlie’s own artistic nature, repurposing objects for new meanings, can also be seen as symbolic of her being repurposed as a vessel.
The pivotal scene where Annie discovers her mother’s occult research reveals the full extent of the plan. A highlighted passage explains that summoning King Paimon requires a vulnerable host, and crucially, that Paimon is “livid and vengeful when offered a female host.” Peter, as a male, was the intended host from the beginning. Annie’s attempts to shield him from Leigh initially thwarted the cult’s plans. However, with Charlie’s birth and Annie’s eventual vulnerability, the cult shifted their focus. They groomed Charlie to be an intermediary, a temporary vessel to facilitate Paimon’s ultimate possession of Peter.
The séance orchestrated by Joan and Annie served to bring Charlie’s essence back to the house, further blurring the lines between the siblings and paving the way for the transfer. The illustration of Paimon in Leigh’s book, depicting the demon with three decapitated heads, foreshadows the horrific sacrifices required: Leigh, Charlie, and Annie herself.
Ari Aster’s Perspective: Real-World Occultism and Thematic Depth
Interestingly, Hereditary doesn’t invent its demonic mythology entirely. King Paimon is a real entity within occult traditions. Ari Aster’s meticulous research into witchcraft and ritualistic practices lends a disturbing authenticity to the film’s supernatural elements.
Aster himself acknowledged the unsettling nature of his research in an interview with Vox:
I did do a lot of research, especially into witchcraft and how one might cast a spell and how to conduct one of these rituals. It was very disturbing for me, and I had to move away from it once I’d gotten what I needed.
While Aster took creative liberties, the foundation of Paimon and the rituals is rooted in actual occult beliefs. However, he clarifies his own distance from these practices:
I’m sure that I’m going to be called out by occultists for taking liberty where I might have. But ultimately, I have no ties to the occult. In any way. I’m just a Jewish guy. I’m just a neurotic Jewish guy.
Beyond the horror, Hereditary delves into profound themes of grief, family trauma, and inherited burdens. Aster explained to Vanity Fair:
In true melodramatic fashion, I wanted a film that really honored the feeling of these people who are really suffering, where the fears that are being exploited and investigated are impossible to remedy. And they aren’t irrational. So, you know, a fear of death, or a fear of abandonment, or a fear of being responsible for something horrible that happens to somebody in your life that you care about, and having to live with the guilt of that… I knew if I wanted to make a horror film, I wanted to make one that really got to people. And I don’t know how to do that but to think about what scares me.
Peter’s fate is the ultimate culmination of these themes. He becomes a victim not only of a demonic plot but also of inherited family trauma and manipulative forces beyond his control. His possession is a terrifying metaphor for the loss of self and the inescapable grip of destiny, making Hereditary a truly haunting and unforgettable cinematic experience.
If you’re compelled to revisit the chilling world of Hereditary, it’s available for streaming on Amazon Prime. You can also purchase digital or physical copies to delve deeper into its terrifying intricacies.
Next, explore the equally mind-bending conclusion of Aster’s sophomore film: Midsommar Ending Explained: What Happens To Dani And What The Insane Twist Means
Publicity still from Hereditary featuring Toni Collette and Alex Wolff, emphasizing the intense family dynamic at the heart of the horror.
