The Hereditary Secret No One Else Noticed: Aspen Trees

Ari Aster’s Hereditary (2018) has been dissected to death, and for good reason. Aster loads every frame with meaning, packing symbolism into even the smallest details. But after years of reading theories and watching breakdowns, I noticed something I’ve never seen anyone else mention: the trees.

Hereditary was filmed in Utah, home to the quaking aspen—the tall, white trunks are eerily present throughout the film. The opening shots of Annie’s workshop frame the aspens outside the window. Charlie’s treehouse, perched among them, looks like it grew straight from their roots. But here’s the thing: aspens don’t grow from seeds. Their roots spread underground, sprouting new trunks as part of a single, massive organism. Pando, a Utah aspen grove, might be the largest living thing on Earth.

This isn’t just a cool nature fact—it’s a perfect metaphor for Hereditary’s themes. Hereditary explores inescapable generational trauma—just like an infected aspen grove spreads disease through every trunk. Annie’s family, bound to her mother’s occult influence, mirrors a grove unable to escape what’s buried in its roots.

Hereditary doesn’t just use aspens to represent family—it uses them to expose the nature of cults. Think of that chilling transition: day flips to night, revealing cult members scattered among the trees. They blend in, their pale bodies glowing in the moonlight like little aspen trunks.

And here’s the genius part—once an aspen grove spreads, you can’t tell which tree was the “parent.” Cults work the same way. They don’t rely on a leader; it’s their beliefs that take root, spread, and thrive. The cult in Hereditary doesn’t die with Annie’s mother—it flourishes.

In a genius move, Aster uses aspens to illustrate two contrasting (terrifying) ideas: the suffocating ties of family and the unchecked growth of dangerous ideologies. Watch Hereditary again, and I guarantee—you’ll never look at the trees the same way.

It’s streaming on Netflix. Go see for yourself. But hurry, because Hereditary leaves Netflix after April 14th.