HOUSE OF HAMMER: Anatomy of a Nightmarishly Toxic Family

When in January 2021 the terrifying messages that Armie Hammer had sent to his partner came to light, to everyone’s shock the golden boy of Hollywood turned out to be yet another sexual predator from the Dream Factory. In early September, Discovery+ released the three-episode miniseries House of Hammer, telling the story of this scandal, which led to the discovery of many more dark secrets within the Hammer family.

At the beginning of 2021, an Instagram account called House of Effie revealed text and voice messages that had come from Armie Hammer. The well-known actor told the recipient about his desire for cannibalism, his wish to drink his partner’s blood, and his need for sex filled with violence and domination. It was something more than an unusual but harmless sexual fetish, and after the first reports, many more women gathered the courage to speak out.

Rapes, physical and psychological violence, threats, domination, and control were revealed — acts Hammer committed against his partners, ignoring their objections and well-being, fulfilling his pathological sexual fantasies. Before that, Armie Hammer had been considered the golden boy of Hollywood. The first role that brought him recognition was his appearance in The Social Network. In David Fincher’s film, he played the Winklevoss twins. That first breakthrough role defined his acting typecast for a long time.

From then on, he regularly portrayed handsome, wealthy, and somewhat spoiled young men, up until the moment when, in Luca Guadagnino’s brilliant film, he played Oliver, a student from the United States who makes the sensitive Elio (Timothée Chalamet) fall in love with him.  Call Me by Your Name (2017) brought Hammer numerous nominations and genuine popularity, becoming a milestone in what seemed to be his straightforward path to stardom. The accusations of rape and violence, and consequently the police investigation, have ended Hammer’s acting career — at least for now.

In the very heart of a toxic family

House of Hammer consists of only three episodes. The first is entirely devoted to the accusations made against Armie. His ex-girlfriend Courtney Vucekovich speaks in front of the camera. Julia Morrison, who for many months talked and flirted with Hammer on social media, also gives her account. The documentary includes excerpts from the press conference of the woman known as Effie, who was the first to reveal the abuse she had suffered from the actor. In moving words, with tears in her eyes, she speaks about her experiences.

The next two episodes are a vivisection of the Hammer family, which seems to embody the hellish Roy family from Succession. The production’s consultant was Casey Hammer, the actor’s aunt and sister of Michael, Armie’s father, who in 2015 published a book about her family, Surviving My Birthright: The Authorized Version. In the documentary, she says: I tried to watch Succession. I had to turn it off. My family was even worse.

Beginning their story with Julius Hammer, Armie’s great-great-grandfather, the filmmakers tell of the violence and evil that seem to have flowed through the veins of the male members of the family for decades. Julius, a Russian immigrant who came to the United States, was a KGB spy. His son Armand, after whom Armie was named, made a fortune in the oil industry. He was a well-known art collector and philanthropist, and at the same time an abusive husband and partner.

Julian, Armand’s son, father of Michael and Casey, and Armie’s grandfather, murdered a man, and according to Casey, molested her in childhood. Michael abused alcohol and drugs, living a life reminiscent of Hugh Hefner. Money gave the Hammers not only enormous influence but also the means to live above the law — Julian was never convicted of the murder.

There is no doubt that Hammer grew up amid incredible privilege and wealth, in the very center of a nightmarishly toxic family, which certainly shaped him as a person. And although his family background is interesting in itself, from the documentary I expected rather a deeper exploration of Armie Hammer’s own case. The miniseries focuses too much on his tangled family history and the pathological, violent behavior of his great-great-grandfather, great-grandfather, grandfather, and father. 

House of Hammer is more a digging up of an interesting story about one of the richest families in the United States and their generational degeneration. Yet what currently has overriding significance are the actions of Armie Hammer himself, not those of his mostly deceased male ancestors.