CONTEMPORARY MADNESS: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE DISCOURSE ABOUT MADNESS AND DEMON POSSESSION IN THE FILM HEREDITARY (2018).

Abstract

This article is part of the study developed within the scope of Scientific Initiation. It is located in the historiographic field of Cultural History and History of Mentalities. Its purpose is to understand the approach given to the film Hereditary (2018) about madness from the relationship with demonic possession. Directed by Ari Aster, it is understood that, in filmic language, emphasis was placed on re-updating representations in the field of medieval demonology over the modern and scientific discourse of madness. Psychological horror, the film stars the Graham family, who begin to experience disturbing events after the death of the matriarch. Madness began to be covered in cinemas by the subgenre, among the most profitable. It became emblematic of characters that became iconographic in cinematographic culture, such as Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Michael Myers.