Ari Aster confirmed that he's written a script for a Hereditary prequel, but whether we'll get to see it is an entirely different story. Just after confirming he's written another entry to one of the best horror movies out there, Aster seemed unsure if he'll ever make it.

The director made the bombshell reveal at American Cinematheque’s annual Bleak Week, during a Q&A about the movie (via GoldDerby). As eager as we may all be to see more bone-chilling scenes, and as much as we may want a release date added to the upcoming movies list, Aster added that he has no idea what happens from here when it comes to that script:

Aster was non-committal about making a prequel to Hereditary anytime soon, which is a bummer for anyone who wants more from the movie that perfectly walked the tightrope between horror and grief. Personally, I would love a movie that went into the backstory behind that bizarre ritual and helped make sense of the supernatural events of the original movie.

It's easier said than done, as Ari Aster admitted the shadow of Hereditary continues to loom over him. Continuing further, he expressed frustration that while he's had other celebrated movies where he's felt he's progressed as a storyteller and director, Hereditary remains the movie people still want to talk to him about the most:

I can empathize with the frustration of making movies like Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid, and Eddington, and feeling like some fans don't think those movies are as good as the movie he made eight years ago. Then again, there are also people who will never make a horror movie as good as Hereditary, so maybe he just needs a shift in perspective to get inspired to make this prequel.

As for what a prequel would be about, I would imagine we'd learn more about the cult worshipping the demon King Paimon. Who knows if that movie begins with Ellen Taper Leigh, the grandmother who dies at the beginning of the film. Maybe the prequel will go back even further and show the previous male host that King Paimon inhabited? Was there even a previous male host?

These are the things I'd want to know, but I get the pressure behind making a prequel to Hereditary. There would be high expectations going in, and I would reckon the movie itself would be entirely different from the original. How do you create the magic of the family dynamic and other elements that made the movie great, while still telling a story that services the original? It won't be easy, but as someone with Hereditary Christmas ornaments on my wishlist, I'm down for it.

Until then, we still have Hereditary, and I'd recommend readers give it a rewatch soon, but I'm still questioning whether I'm going to revisit it this year when October rolls around. I'll definitely show up in theaters if a prequel happens, however, so here's hoping Ari Aster has some thoughts about how to make that happen.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article may contain a few light spoilers for Eddington. If you have not yet seen the new 2025 movie, just follow the safety protocols, proceed with caution, and you should be just fine.

It had been a long time since I tensed up at the sound of a person (actually multiple people) coughing in a movie theater like I did when I saw Eddington, a neo-Western set in the COVID-19 era that discusses other distressing topics prevalent in 2020. I must admit, though, that those curious coincidences were, just about, the most potent sense of tension throughout most of the film for me.

To be clear, I really enjoyed the new A24 movie, believing it is an effectively bizarre and maddening portrait of contemporary America, anchored by great performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, and many more. Yet, it left me wanting more, and in a distinct and personal way, especially knowing that it comes from writer and director Ari Aster. Allow me to explain…

I Wanted Eddington To Be Darker

Ari Aster is one of my favorite filmmakers working today. I believe he is responsible for not just some of the best A24 horror movies yet, but some of the absolute best horror movies in recent memory with 2018’s Hereditary, 2019’s Midsommar, and even Beau is Afraid, which was not everyone’s bag, but was my favorite film of 2023.

What these films have in common is that, immediately after seeing them, they each left me with a deeply unsettled feeling in my very core that I struggled to shake for days, which is something I have come to appreciate and anticipate from Aster. However, Eddington was the first film of his to not have that effect on me.

Don't get me wrong: the movie has plenty of undeniably shocking moments, but it is easily Aster’s most tame film so far. That might come as a relief to some, but not so much to me, and for the reasons above. I am not exactly sure myself how he could have crafted a darker story that would have remained faithful to his vision, but I also have little doubt that someone of his twisted imagination could have conjured something more in line with the enduring bleakness of his past efforts, especially when commenting on such a traumatic and divisive time in United States history.

On The Flip Side, I'd Call Eddington Ari Aster's Funniest Movie

I have always believed it is important, when forming an opinion about any piece of art, to consider the opposition. There have even been times, to better understand the mindset of those who may disagree with me, when I found myself developing a full-scale argument against my own feelings, and I ended up having one of these experiences with Eddington.

While the film lacks the ferociously dark tone I have come to associate with Aster, in retrospect, I actually think it might have been in his best interest to dial back a bit on the shock factor for the sake of calling it a dark comedy movie. In the past, I have heard a lot of people say they felt unsure if they were supposed to be laughing at some of the content in his previous films, despite how Aster once described Midsommar as folk horror with the “trajectory of a high school comedy” to The Atlantic.

However, the satirical humor in his latest is completely unambiguous and, if you ask me, results in the filmmaker’s most effective comedy yet, and I even include the demented absurdity of the Beau is Afraid ending in that conversation. That being said, had Aster gone even darker with his already eye-opening interpretation of tumultuous real-life events in Eddington, I imagine that the humorous tone would have been deemed in poor taste.

If you expected me to get more political about this very political film, I am afraid you came to the wrong writer. While I do admire the way Eddington holds a mirror up to society, I always judge films of this kind by the artistic execution of their content first and foremost. In that regard, while I would call it my least favorite Ari Aster movie yet, I think it is one of the best A24 movies I have seen so far this year.

While recently preparing for an interview with Joaquin Phoenix during the Los Angeles press day for his new 2025 movie Eddington, I took notice of a special aspect of his filmography. His latest film is his second time working with writer/director Ari Aster, and that fits an interesting pattern, as there is a litany of talented and high profile filmmakers with whom he has worked multiple times – the list including Ridley Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson, Gus Van Sant, James Gray, Terry George, M. Night Shyamalan, and Todd Phillips. Discovering this, I couldn’t help but think that it said something about the way that he works with directors, and I felt compelled to ask him about those relationships the following day.

It won’t surprise anybody to learn that there isn’t just one thing that he is looking for – a reflection of the complexity in how directors and actors work together. It’s part of the former’s job to personally connect with the latter in order to evoke the best performance possible, but in answering my question, Phoenix first prioritized a big picture perspective. Anybody can point a camera at a subject, so he wants to work with people who do it in ways that nobody else is considering and can’t copy. The Oscar winner explained,

If you look up and revisit the list of names mentioned in the first paragraph, I think it’s fair to say that he is regularly successful in looking for filmmakers with unique vision. There are a lot of auteurs who have successfully made movies that are instantly identifiable via their special signatures and flairs.

It’s not solely about the big picture, though, as Joaquin Phoenix continued by noting the importance of working with filmmakers who know how to push the right buttons and get him to “explore” aspects of his abilities of which he was previously unaware. In a director, he looks for someone who can make him see new angles. But also not to be ignored as well is the importance of clicking personalities. He added,

If you don’t already know: movie-making is hard. It seems like glamorous work if you’re solely focused on the red carpet side of things, but it takes dozens upon dozens of people to make a feature, and things can get stressful and hectic. Needless to say, everything becomes much more difficult if a lead actor grows to loathe their director. Or as Joaquin Phoenix put it,

As you can probably tell, the actor has a pretty clear idea of what he’s looking for so that he can reach the expectations that he has for himself and his work. But one other aspect also matters, as he threw in as an addendum:

After making Beau Is Afraid, Ari Aster clearly felt very happy about having Joaquin Phoenix on set again, and audiences will be able to see the end result of their collaboration in theaters this weekend (courtesy of A24). Featuring a talented ensemble cast that also includes Pedro Pascal, Emma Stone, Austin Butler, Luke Grimes, Micheal Ward, and Deirdre O’Connell, Eddington is a movie that has been intentionally made to be divisive, and that has most definitely been the reaction from critics in the run up to its release. It’s certainly a fascinating work, the story set during the controversy-filled summer of 2020, and one you can make up your own mind about it seeing it on the big screen starting tomorrow, July 18.

'If most of us were to meet our favorite celebrities, we would probably have a hard time keeping our cool. It turns out that this is still the case even when it comes to other celebrities. You’d think that with so many A-listers making cameos on Saturday Night Live over the years, the cast members there would get jaded over it, but Bill Hader recently revealed the time he went all fanboy over Martin Scorsese, to the point the producer had to ask him to stop.

In a recent episode of the A24 Podcast, Hader welcomed esteemed filmmaker Ari Aster as his guest, and the two discussed some of their creative heroes, many of whom they have both met and even become friends with. Hader mentioned a point when 2025 Emmy nominee Martin Scorsese made an appearance on SNL. It seems Hader was so invested in talking cinema with Scorsese that he continued to bug the award winner until somebody made him stop. Hader said:

In Hader’s defense, Ari Aster says he’s met Martin Scorsese before, and he felt equally obligated to try and get the director to like him. Hader says that he only realized after the fact that his impulsive actions might have made him look like an ass in the eyes of Scorsese, accomplishing the exact opposite of what he was trying.

All this being said, this may not have been the most awkward celebrity experience of Bill Hader's life. His own daughter once conned him into meeting Chris Pratt. He's not always this awkward, however. A lot of people would probably get a little starstruck when meeting Lebron James, but it was no big deal for Hader.

Have no fear, however. the two celebs are on apparently on decent terms now. Hader continued:

It reminds me of the old Chris Farley Show sketch that the Tommy Boy star did in his SNL days. It was a talk show set that saw Farley ”interview” the host or musical artist of that week’s show. It was usually little more than Farley fawning over the guest and talking about how cool he thought they were, which was reportedly based on the way Farley would sometimes actually act around guests.

Honestly, there are probably a lot of people who would get this way if they met Bill Hader. And Hader isn’t the first to go a little nuts meeting Scorsese. If I ever had the chance to interview, I would almost certainly do the same thing. And I’d be just as embarrassed afterward.

Ari Aster, the director behind some of the best A24 movies like Midsommar and Hereditary, is back with a new film on the 2025 movie calendar. Eddington, which hits theaters on July 18, is a step away from horror, as Aster tackles the neo-Western genre. People had a lot of thoughts about Beau Is Afraid, Aster’s last film, and it sounds like Eddington is equally divisive.

Eddington reunites Ari Aster with Beau Is Afraid star Joaquin Phoenix, who plays small-town sheriff Joe Cross in this tense 2020-era dark comedy. Pedro Pascal co-stars as Mayor Ted Garcia, and they’ll be joined in the upcoming A24 movie by Emma Stone, Austin Butler and Luke Grimes. David Ehrlich of IndieWire gives it an A-, praising the director for his exploration of the pandemic as the moment that forever tore a hole in the fabric of American society. He says:

Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press gives the movie 2 stars out of 4, writing that no side is spared as the town spirals into chaos and gruesome violence over mask mandates, conspiracy theories and TikTok trends. Revisiting 2020 again so soon in such a way just might break your brain, Bahr says, writing:

Aaron Neuwirth of We Live Entertainment says Ari Aster’s Eddington is sure to trigger certain emotions in the audience, but is also quite funny, playing up comedic tension to balance the more violent portions of the movie. Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal are excellent, Neuwirth says, continuing:

Travis Hopsin of Punch Drunk Critics says the fear surrounding the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd protests that’s depicted in Eddington is “designed to enrage us,” but the most terrifying part of Ari Aster’s film is how accurate it is. The critic says:

Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gives Eddington 2 out of 5 skulls, however, calling it “empty provocation.” Ari Aster gets too ambitious, the critic says, trying to recapture every point of contention from 2020, which makes the movie increasingly convoluted over time. It’s well-directed, and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is “riveting,” but overall, Navarro finds it lacking:

It sounds like Ari Aster is dealing with some pretty heavy material from a time we remember all too well and that we haven’t exactly gotten past as a society. If you want to go on this ride with Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal and the rest, Eddington will be available to catch on the big screen starting Friday, July 17.

Since the premiere of Ari Aster’s Eddington at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, the word I’ve constantly heard/seen to describe it is “divisive.” It’s a dark comedy set during the summer of 2020 – a time period that has a lot of baggage for all of us – and it examines the moment in our recent history via the lens of a small town in New Mexico. It’s conflict-filled subject matter that has inflamed strong opinions… and that means that it is doing what its writer/director intended it to do.

When I sat down with Aster and actors Luke Grimes and Micheal Ward late last month for an interview during the Los Angeles press day for the new 2025 feature, I made note of the “divisive” response, and I asked the filmmaker about how he factors audience reaction into his work and how he expects his movies to play with movie-goers. He explained that there are certain stages involved when he is constructing a screenplay – but the first time he digs into a story, he is writing purely what he wants to write. Said the filmmaker,

What makes Eddington particularly complicated material are the motivations of its characters – including a sheriff (played by Joaquin Phoenix) agitated with the state-mandated Covid restrictions and the mayor (Pedro Pascal) with big money investors in his upcoming re-election campaign who is hoping to land a deal for the construction of a server farm. Elements of their behavior are hyper-politicized and magnified during a tremendously stressful time, but they aren’t specifically acting in bad faith.

The movie itself is about fractures in our society, and confronting audiences with that is going to naturally get a divisive reaction. Aster continued:

The ensemble of characters in the story include the sheriff’s wife (Emma Stone), who finds herself falling down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole; a Black officer (Micheal Ward) who finds himself the subject of strange attention amid the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests; and a teen (Cameron Mann) who gets sucked into progressive activism to get the attention of his crush (Amèlie Hoeferle). As the Hereditary/Middsommar filmmaker explains, they all know that everything isn’t functioning properly and they try to contribute toward its betterment… but nothing about modernity is black and white. Added Aster,

Also starring Austin Butler, Deirdre O’Connell, and William Belleau, all of the controversy of Eddington will be arriving in theaters courtesy of A24 this Friday, July 18.

In just the past few years, director Ari Aster has delivered some truly scary movies, some of which rank alongside the best horror films of all time. His second feature film, Midsommar, had similar vibes to Hereditary (his first motion picture), as both offered twisted tales featuring characters being consumed by the unsettling worlds they entered. That’s certainly true of Florence Pugh's Dani, the protagonist of Aster's 2019 effort. The A24 film’s lead is now offering up her own interpretation of the movie’s fiery ending.

A “beautiful nightmare," as Florence Pugh described, the film tracks Dani, as she accompanies her boyfriend and others on a visit to a cult in Sweden. The wild ending of Midsommar sees Dani being named the Hårga’s May Queen, who must choose the ninth sacrifice to rid the twisted group of evil. Covered in colorful flowers with that memorable frown on her face, Dani chooses her partner, Christian, after catching him in a sexual ritual. He's then stuffed in a disemboweled bear’s body and forced to become enflamed in the wooden temple with eight other members.

Florence Pugh shared her take on that twisted ending while answering questions with Andrew Garfield -- who she starred alongside in the 2024 movie release We Live in Time -- for the WIRED Autocomplete Interview. She acknowledged the common belief that the character is having a "psychotic break" in that moment, but went on to say that she believes there's more to it:

It’s true that after Dani suffered the loss of her sister and parents due to carbon monoxide poisoning, she felt lost. You could tell even through her interaction with Christian, who she was in a horrible toxic relationship with, that he could hardly comfort her when she needed it most. After the Hårga cult gave Dani comfort in her tears, even if it was all in mimicry, she felt a sense of belonging there and not knowing where else to turn to.

When seeing that child-like smile on Dani’s face while she watches the temple burning -- with her boyfriend in it -- one could get the sense that she’s consumed in the Swedish cult and no longer connected to reality. And, yes, you can argue that Dani is experiencing a psychotic break, in which what looks disturbing to us appears beautiful in her eyes.

While I understand Florence Pugh’s interpretation, I’m leaning more towards Ari Aster’s ending interpretation. The Falling actress believes Dani didn’t know what she was doing by picking Christian as the final sacrifice, feeling that she was more distracted by the fire going up as opposed to doing anything “sinister.”

The Beau is Afraid director said he was inspired to write the movie after experiencing a breakup. He seems to believe in his “perverse, wish-fulfillment fantasy” that Dani was fully aware of what was happening to Christian after being engulfed in flames at the temple. Even if Florence Pugh disagrees with her director’s interpretation, it appears that her vision for her character was what she needed to make the horror film’s ending all the more effective, and I would say it did the trick. You can watch her and Andrew Garfield's interview in full below:

Regardless of how fans interpret the ending, I think most would agree that Florence Pugh is amazing in the Ari Aster flick. Through her performance, she perfectly conveys that the Dani viewers see at the end of the movie is far removed from the person they met at the start of the movie. Needless to say, this is one of A24’s best horror films, and both Pugh and Ari Aster deserve their flowers for putting in the work.

If you dare to revisit it, Midsommar -- one of the ‘10s best movies -- is available to watch on your Max subscription. You can also watch Florence Pugh in the 2024 movie release of We Live in Time with limited showtimes in theaters now.

Get ready, because another Ari Aster film is coming. Here's what we know so far about Eddington. 

That's right—you know that name. I think we all do at this point. Ari Aster is returning with his fourth directorial feature after his critically acclaimed Midsommar, Hereditary, and the weirdly bizarre Beau is Afraid. But, of course, you'll still watch it anyway—because it's Aster; why would you not? 

When will this film be released? And, who will star in it? Here is what we know about Ari Aster's new film, Eddington. 

What Is The Eddington Release Date?

At the time of this writing, Eddington has no set release date, which isn't that surprising. The film's stars were only just announced in March 2024, so it would be pretty surprising if we had a release date for this film already – I would not expect to see it on any 2024 movie schedule. 

Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone And More Will Star

As is tradition with many of Ari Aster's films, he already has a set cast filled with stars for Eddington. For those who want to know, here is who will star in the upcoming movie:

Joaquin Phoenix

In March 2024, Variety announced the initial ensemble of Eddington to the general public, and the first name we'll go over on this list is Joaquin Phoenix. The actor worked with Aster as the star of Beau is Afraid but is returning for a second round with the director. 

Phoenix is known for many of his film roles. Most recently, in 2023, he starred in the Ridley Scott film Napoleon, but he has also starred in films such as Her, Gladiators, Signs, Walk the Line, The Master, and more. He also won an Academy Award for portraying Arthur Fleck in Joker in 2019, which is getting a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux.

Emma Stone

Emma Stone is the second cast member announced. She is hot right now after a 2024 Academy Award win for her critically acclaimed performance in Poor Things. Stone has also won another Academy Award for her starring role in La La Land.

The actress has appeared in various films that you might recognize her from, including The Favourite, Battle of the Sexes, Zombieland, Easy A, Superbad, Birdman, and so many other great movies that I can't possibly name them all. 

Stone also has experience with television. She was one of the main stars of the wacky and strange Showtime series The Curse, and co-starred in the Netflix miniseries Maniac. Talk about a resume. 

Austin Butler

Austin Butler is the next star confirmed to appear. Butler has gained worldwide fame for his roles in films. He was part of the Dune: Part 2 cast, where he played Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, and also scored an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Elvis in Elvis. 

Other than that, Butler has appeared in various films, including Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Dude, Yoga Hosers, and more. He's set to star in the upcoming The Bikeriders. 

Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal is confirmed to star in Eddington. The actor has gotten quite popular from his starring roles in the HBO series The Last of Us and in one of the best Disney+ shows, The Mandalorian. He has also appeared in several other productions, including Game of Thrones, Narcos, The Mentalist, Graceland, Red Widow, and more. 

Pascal has also appeared in various films, including but not limited to Drive-Away Dolls, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, We Can Be Heroes, The Equalizer 2, and more. 

Luke Grimes

Luke Grimes was confirmed for the cast in the Variety article. The actor is primarily known for his role in American Sniper, but has since appeared in the popular TV show Yellowstone. 

Grimes has also been in movies like Fifty Shades of Grey, Freeheld, Forever, Happiness for Beginners, and more. 

Deirdre O'Connell

The sixth person confirmed is Deirdre O'Connell. The actress is primarily known for her stage work, but she has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Just Looking, A Dog Year, Second Noah, The Affair, The Path, Outer Range, and more.

Micheal Ward

According to Variety, Micheal Ward will appear in Eddington. The actor has been in movies like Blue Story, Old Guard, Empire of Light, The Book of Clarence, and more. He also played roles on The A-List and Top Boy. 

Clifton Collins Jr.

Lastly, Variety confirmed Clifton Collins Jr. as another cast member. The actor has appeared in movies like Seven, Pacific Rim, Star Trek, and more. 

Talk about an incredibly stacked cast. I can't wait to see what they do. 

Eddington Takes Place In New Mexico And Follows A Sheriff

While the premise isn't well-known right now, we do know a couple of small plot details. From the Variety article above, we know that Eddington will take place in New Mexico and will follow a sheriff with "higher aspirations."

We also know that it will be a "contemporary western," according to Aster's interview with The New York Times (via Collider) in March 2023. 

Ari Aster Directs And Writes Eddington

As confirmed above, Ari Aster will direct Eddington, but Variety also confirmed that he wrote the film as well, which makes sense, as he's written his last three films, too – which most likely means that this will have some form of nightmare fuel like his other films have, but who knows? 

Aster revealed in a Reddit AMA (via SlashFilm) that Eddington was almost his first movie, instead of Hereditary, and that he'd been trying to get it off the ground for years. 

A24 Will Produce And Release The Movie

As confirmed by Variety, A24 is returning for round four with Aster, as the company will be producing and financing the film. Aside from some of the best A24 horror movies out there, the film studio has released several major hits of the last few years—a few of which have been Aster's films—so, unsurprisingly, they are coming back together. 

Filming Will Last Until May 2024

The last news is that Productionlist.com reported in February 2024 that Eddington would begin production in March 2024 and last until May 2024. 

This just makes me all the more excited about whatever this movie is about. I have no idea what to expect, and that just makes me even more intrigued. I can't wait to see it!

Some filmmakers require time to find their voice. They have to make a few simply "ok" features before having the skills required to make their masterpiece. But that's not the case with the directors featured on this list. These folks quickly figured out what they could do with a camera, and they produced magic with their first feature.

It's a terribly hard thing to do, but here are 32 directors who made great films on their very first try.

Orson Welles – Citizen Kane

A lot of incredible films are highlighted on this list, but Citizen Kane is special given that in addition to being Orson Welles’ first feature, it’s considered by many to be the greatest movie all time. The hunt for the meaning behind a publishing titan’s last word is endlessly compelling and a fascinating examination of the soul corruption that comes with a rise to power.

Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs

Before making modern and instant classics like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, the legend of Quentin Tarantino began with the phenomenal Reservoir Dogs. The sharp dialogue, the non-linear storytelling, the tense violence and the needle-drop centric soundtrack all instantly confirmed that Tarantino was a talent to watch.

Jordan Peele – Get Out

It came as a shock when comedian Jordan Peele announced that he was shifting to a new phase of his career, as he wanted to pursue his true passion: directing horror movies. It was hard to know what to make of the decision at the time, but Peele has since established himself as one of the industry’s greatest genre filmmakers, and it all started with the stunning Get Out. It’s scary, layered, and the big third act twist never loses its impact.

Spike Jonze – Being John Malkovich

Spike Jonze wasn’t exactly inexperienced when he took the helm of Being John Malkovich as his first feature, as he had established himself as a genius talent in the world of music videos, but that doesn’t take anything away from his accomplishments. It’s a wild, strange, and perfect execution of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s genius and cerebral script, and both the design and cinematography make it unforgettable.

Sidney Lumet – 12 Angry Men

It requires incredible skill to direct a film that almost entirely takes place in a single room and juggles 12 different characters with different perspectives… but there’s a reason why Sidney Lumet is considered one of history’s greatest filmmakers. The basic description of 12 Angry Men doesn’t sound particularly cinematic, but it grips you from the start, and keeps you fascinated throughout – particularly thanks to one of Henry Fonda’s greatest performances.

Joel & Ethan Coen – Blood Simple

Joel and Ethan Coen are masters of crime fiction, and they proved that instantly in the start of their careers as feature filmmakers. Blood Simple is a tense neo-noir that comes with all of the trimmings of the genre – from the chiaroscuro lighting to a brilliant femme fatale turn from Frances McDormand – and M. Emmett Walsh is a force as the relentless Loren Visser.

Rob Reiner – This Is Spinal Tap

Few filmmakers have had runs like what Rob Reiner accomplished in the 1980s/1990s, sequentially making Stand By Me, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Misery and A Few Good Men, but his genius as a director was first established with 1984’s This Is Spinal Tap: a hilarious rock n’ roll mockumentary widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time.

Sam Raimi – The Evil Dead

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell were college students determined to make their first ever feature, and traveled from Michigan to a dilapidated cabin in Tennessee to make The Evil Dead. The production of the film was an absolute nightmare, but the juice was very much worth the squeeze, as the movie exists as a testament to brilliant imagination, and it is an important classic in the history of the horror genre.

Frank Darabont – The Shawshank Redemption

After writing a brilliant adaptation of Stephen King’s novella “Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption,” Frank Darabont actually took a major pay cut so that Castle Rock Entertainment would allow him to make The Shawshank Redemption his directorial debut. This turned out to be a legendary move that has cemented Darabont in cinematic history, as the movie is one of the most beloved of all time and an antidote to cynicism.

John Singleton - Boyz n The Hood

With his directorial debut, John Singleton captured the perspective of an underrepresented audience on the big screen – crafting a Stand By Me-esque coming-of-age story about life in south central Los Angeles. In one of his earliest roles, Cuba Gooding Jr. demonstrates incredible talent alongside Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut, but it’s Laurence Fishburne’s Furious Styles for which the film will always be remembered.

Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman

Emerald Fennell made quite an impression in 2020 with the debut of Promising Young Woman – a primal scream of a movie that captures the horrors that women experience in our modern world and comes together as a darkly comedic revenge thriller. Carey Mulligan’s performance is wicked, and it sports a finale that leaves the audience breathless and mind-blown.

Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler

Jake Gyllenhaal is unquestionably one of the greatest actors of his generation, and Nightcrawler sees him let off the leash to showcase his phenomenal cinematic presence. Dan Gilroy was an experienced screenwriter prior to making his directorial debut, and one can understand why he wanted to make this movie himself: it’s a vicious, Taxi Driver-esque look at crime scene videography and a stunning and cutting commentary on “if it bleeds, it leads” culture in local journalism.

George A. Romero – Night Of The Living Dead

There aren’t exactly a lot of filmmakers who successfully launched an entire new subgenre with their first feature, but that’s exactly what George A. Romero did with Night Of The Living Dead. The zombie film was a shocking standout upon its original release – featuring a Black actor as its lead and a series of nightmarish scenes of horror – and its genius is no less apparent today.

Rian Johnson – Brick

Long before wowing us with his ensemble-driven Benoit Blanc mysteries Knives Out and Glass Onion, Rian Johnson stunned cinephiles as a first-time director with Brick. It’s a stylized neo-noir that stands out with its high school backdrop and young characters, and it dazzles with unyielding tension, unique dialogue, and a terrific third act reveal.

Tom Hanks – That Thing You Do!

Admit it: even just seeing the title of That Thing You Do! has immediately gotten the eponymous song stuck in your head. But on top of that track being two minutes and 50 seconds of peppy greatness, the film is a fantastic tale about a one hit wonder that pops thanks to Tom Hanks’ excellent direction and a delightful ensemble cast.

David Lynch – Eraserhead

It didn’t take long for David Lynch to tell cinephiles what he is all about. The auteur filmmaker established his nightmarish, cerebral sensibilities from the get-go with Eraserhead – which is a confident work from the first time director and paved the road for further masterpieces like Mulholland Drive and Twin Peaks.

Amy Heckerling – Fast Times at Ridgemont High

Amy Heckerling would easily be in the Coming-Of-Age Movie Hall Of Fame if Clueless were the only film on her filmography, but it was 13 years earlier that she made one of the genre’s all-time greatest titles as her directorial debut: Fast Times At Ridgemont High. There is so much to love about this film, from the radical Jeff Spicoli, to the drama of the relationship between Stacy and Mark, to the sounds of The Cars’ “Living In Stereo.”

Destin Daniel Cretton – Short Term 12

It’s a remarkable thing when a film, a series of images mixed with sound rapidly displayed to show movement, can touch your soul, but that’s something that Destin Daniel Cretton’s powerful directorial debut does – centering on the staff of a residential treatment facility. In retrospect, the ensemble cast in this one is beyond outstanding (including Brie Larson, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, LaKeith Stanfield, and Stephanie Beatriz), and their talents are on full display.

Patty Jenkins – Monster

Patty Jenkins’ directorial debut, Monster, is far from a fun cinematic experience, and one actually feels compelled to take a shower after watching it, but it’s a riveting work. Charlize Theron delivers what is arguably the best performance of her career and earned her Academy Award.

Josh & Benny Safdie - Good Time

Cinephiles were thrilled to discover the cinematic heart attack that is Josh and Benny Safdie’s Uncut Gems in 2019, but anyone who watched the brothers’ directorial debut was at the very least mentally prepared for the experience. Starring Robert Pattinson, Good Time is a deeply stressful crime film that comes packed with touches of Of Mice And Men, and it leaves a deep impression on whoever watches it.

Darren Aronofsky – Pi

Darren Aronofsky has a gift for making movies that makes you want to curl up in a ball and cry (see: Requiem For A Dream, Black Swan, mother!), and it’s a mode he hasn’t diverted from since making his feature debut with Pi. It’s a stylistic story of obsession and has one of the most upsetting endings of all time.

John Huston - The Maltese Falcon

There are some films that are held up as the true classics of classic film noir, and right alongside Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, Bill Wilder’s Double Indemnity and Carol Reed’s The Third Man is John Huston’s phenomenal The Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade is an icon of detective fiction, and the twists and turns of the mystery feel as fresh today as ever.

Ari Aster - Hereditary

Ari Aster has quickly become one of the most exciting modern filmmakers making original horror, and that’s in part because audiences are still experiencing nightmares from his directorial debut. A look at both generational trauma and grief, Hereditary is a movie so scary that it would make you feel cold if you were in the middle of the desert, and has more than a few images that end up tattooed on the back of your eyelids as you try to go to sleep at night.

Michael Mann - Thief

Nobody makes crime movies like Michael Mann, and it all started with Thief. It’s a thrilling and captivating look at a talented Chicago criminal who is looking for his way into legitimacy and finds himself fighting forces that try and drag him back into his shady business. The movie features one of James Caan’s best performances, and the talented ensemble includes Jim Belishi, Dennis Farina and Willie Nelson.

Francois Truffaut - The 400 Blows

Valued as an important part of cinema history and the French New Wave, Francois Truffaut’s The 400 Blows is a powerful coming-of-age story starring Jean-Pierre Léaud as Antoine Doinel, a troubled youth who ends up quitting school and turning to thievery, only to be apprehended and thrown in a juvenile detention center. Truffaut is recognized for having created some of the most beautiful films to ever be produced in France, and it all started here.

Jean Luc Goddard - Breathless

Another evocative title that emerged from the French New Wave, Jean Luc Goddard’s Breathless is a visually stunning work of crime and love, with tremendous cinematic innovation, attitude that bleeds off the screen, and an outstanding performance from star Jean-Paul Belmondo in his breakout role.

Barry Jenkins – Medicine For Melancholy

Barry Jenkins first earned widespread acclaim in 2016 for his film Moonlight (which deservingly won Best Picture at the Academy Awards), but not to be slept on is the debut feature he made eight years earlier: Medicine For Melancholy. Starring Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins and set over the course of a single day, it’s a beautiful and emotional romantic drama.

Steven Soderbergh - Sex, Lies, And Videotape

Steven Soderbergh is now recognized as one of the most talented, eclectic filmmakers in cinema, but it all started with Sex, Lies And Videotape – a fascinating romantic drama with brilliant meta levels examining intimacy via camera.

George Miller – Mad Max

Many genre classics have been covered in this list, and now it’s time to dive into one of the greatest action/adventure films of all time. With Mad Max, George Miller takes us to an unnerving not-to-distant future full of violence and chaos, and his unique skills as a filmmaker capturing all that wildness all in camera is what makes this a forever-thrilling experience.

Damien Chazelle – Whiplash

One can read and learn that there is intense competition in performance arts schools, but it’s another thing to live it – and that’s what audiences get to do in Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash. Miles Teller is brilliant as the determined and talented Andrew Neiman, but it’s the Oscar-winning work of J.K. Simmons that makes this outstanding directorial debut exceptional.

Mel Brooks – The Producers

Every legendary cinematic run has to start somewhere, and for Mel Brooks, it was with the brilliance of The Producers. Long before he was shocking with the world with Blazing Saddles and History Of The World Part I, the brilliant comedian unleashed his tale of a Broadway scheme and the insanity of “Springtime For Hitler.”

Jim Abrahams, David Zucker And Jerry Zucker – Airplane!

In the 1980s/1990s, nobody made spoof movies like Jim Abrahams, David Zucker And Jerry Zucker, and they quickly established their special comedic voice with their directorial debut: Airplane! The insane pacing of the jokes and the sheer ridiculousness of everything make this a movie that threatens to choke you with laughter, and there are so, so many quotable lines – many thanks to the deadpan brilliance of Leslie Nielsen.

This list obviously has the potential to grow forever, and it'll be exciting to see who the next big breakout movie directors are. 

Alright… here we go. 

For years, I’ve been a fan of Ari Aster. While I didn't see last two films in theaters (as I was deep into college at that point), I became a massive lover of both Midsommar and Hereditary after the fact, considering them some of the best A24 horror movies – and honestly, some of the best horror movies of all time. 

So of course, when I heard that Aster was working on another movie, I got excited. The title Beau is Afraid was something I could get behind – and when I found out that it was going to instead be more of a dark comedy, that got me even more excited. 

The film had its wide release in April, and I wasn't able to head out to the theater thanks to several things just popping up and preventing me from going. But I recently decided to watch the movie for the first time and wow, yeah… I have a lot of thoughts on this film that I need to get out now. 

As I Expected, The Cinematography Is Amazing

I mean, it’s not that surprising that the cinematography for Beau is Afraid is out of this world amazing. Ari Aster always pays so much attention to each and every one of his shots that it doesn’t shock me that even in this film, every frame feels like it’s made with intent, purpose and development, and not just there to move one character to another location. 

For example, that whole entire car scene near the first act of the film, when Toni and her friend are driving Beau around the block and we see flashbacks to his younger years and how he met Elaine. Every single shot of that is painted so beautifully and kept me intrigued. 

Even the beginning scene – you know what I’m talking about. I was so confused at first as to what was going on, but then when it cut to the title sequence after hearing a mother scream for her child – ooh, I knew I was going to be in for a ride. 

But Man… This Movie Is Trippy As All Heck

This movie started off strange and it ended even stranger. 

There are some movies out there that I really like that make you think, and some that are just plain weird. Some of the them, I’ve discovered through social media such as TikTok horror movies or Twitter recommendations. Others I’ve found on my own. 

I would not call Beau is Afraid “plain weird,” but I would say that it walks dangerously close on that line. 

The whole premise of the movie is about Beau trying to find his way home after he finds out something horrible about his mother, and the intense journey it takes to get there. And while he goes out there, he embraces his darkest fears. But some of his darkest fears are strange as heck and the instances he runs into are unbelievable and not necessarily in a good way. 

I have to say, I’m quite in the middle on this movie. I’ve heard a lot of people say you either love it or hate it and I’m neither – I can see why some would hate it, as there are moments that are just so weird and instances that feel like they drag on – such as Beau in the wilderness. But there’s enough here where there is a compelling story, one that did captivate me for some time. 

Joaquin Phoenix Was The Main Reason I Had To Keep Watching 

Even if there was enough here for me to keep watching, about halfway through, I did admittedlyt start to grow a little weary of the strange instances and storyline that this tale was leading towards, but you want to know what really got me through it? Joaquin Phoenix. 

I’ve been a big fan of the actor for years, before he received his Academy Award for Joker, or even starred in Her – heck, now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure Phoenix was the reason I even loved Gladiator in the first place. The actor is amazing at what he does, and captures the role perfectly every damn time. 

Which is why I literally could not look away. Phoenix is the center of this movie, and while there are plenty of strange moments that may make you scratch your head, they’re all pulled together by his brilliant acting performance, one that I know would be harder for someone else to pull off. I could never picture anyone else as Beau. There are so many cool things about this man and this movie is now one of them.

I Can’t Get Over How Well The Casting Is For Young Beau And Older Beau

Real talk – when I watched the first trailer for Beau is Afraid, I thought that the young Beau was just a digitally de-aged Phoenix because he looked that similar to him. 

Casting is such an integral part of any movie or television show – my favorite example being the kid versions of the teenagers in the teen drama, Euphoria – but this movie gave them a run for their money. Armen Nahapetian was the absolute best choice for this role and he rocked it in every scene he was in and I honestly wish he could have been in more flashbacks to give more detail to Beau’s story. 

This casting is one I won’t forget, and honestly, should be a lesson for anyone who is trying to get into the casting side of filmmaking. 

I’m Not Entirely Sure What World This Film Takes Place In

I’m so confused on where this movie takes place. I understand that it’s certainly not one of our own, but there are so many strange moments that truly made me wonder what Aster was going for when creating his version of dystopia. 

It almost feels like an alternate reality to our own Earth because as much crime as there could be in a city, the amount we see in the beginning seems unheard of, at least to me. It feels overwhelming at certain times. And in this reality, it seems taking drugs daily is just as normal as breathing. They have them for breakfast, lunch, dinner – it’s a strange circumstance and I don’t know how to properly feel about it. 

This Movie Takes So Many Twists And Turns That It’s Hard To Keep Up

I legit had no idea where this movie was going at certain points. I thought I had an idea, and then it would get flipped upside down on its head and make me question everything I just thought. There are so many twists and turns my poor little brain was trying to figure out who got where and how we got there. 

I really don’t want to spoil anything for those who might not have seen the movie, but let’s just say that things turn even more wild towards the end of the film. It certainly makes it more entertaining, but it’s still hard to understand completely. 

The Ending Is One Of The Most Confusing Ones I’ve Ever Witnessed

The Beau is Afraid ending is one that I really don’t understand, and honestly, I’m going to talk about it here so spoiler alert for those who haven’t seen the end of Beau is Afraid!!

In this movie, I’d almost like to say that there wasn’t even that much of a journey on this within an actual timeframe, but rather, it was the journey within Beau’s mind to come to terms with who he is and his family. Him learning about his father, who is actually a Giant Penis monster, to Mona actually being alive, to the whole climax of the end before Beau apparently drowns himself – it all made me so confused. 

Because at the end of the day, I felt as if this narrator was so unreliable and that I couldn’t trust anything that was being presented on screen because everything was so strange. A part of me doesn’t even know if Beau is actually dead and he didn’t just imagine this all in his head. Maybe he’s not even there and this was all a dream – either way, it was a lot. 

While I’m not the biggest fan of Beau is Afraid, I will say that it made for good conversation with my boyfriend and me, and it certainly is a film that will live on in Ari Aster’s filmography. Either way, I don’t think I’ll be watching this three-hour film for some time – at least until I can properly understand that ending. 

The reactions below contain NO SPOILERS! So you’re safe to keep reading if you haven’t seen Beau Is Afraid yet.

When the reviews dropped for Beau Is Afraid — the latest offering from director Ari Aster — many critics were impressed with the cinematic feat, including our own Eric Eisenberg, who rated the hilarious and insane film 4.5 out of 5 stars. Others, however, seemed unsure about what they’d experienced, throwing out words like “chaos,” “anxiety” and “panic attack." The movie received a wider release in theaters Friday, pulling in $2.7 million at the box office this weekend (amid another terrific showing for The Super Mario Bros. Movie), and audiences are taking to social media with their own opinions of the A24 nightmare comedy. 

It was obvious from the jump that this was going to be a divisive movie, to be honest. It sees Joaquin Phoenix taking on another extreme role in the titular character, who embarks on a surreal odyssey to get to his mother’s house after her sudden death. By the time Beau is Afraid's ending rolled around three hours later, audience members seemed stunned — though they don’t agree (or don’t know!) whether that’s a good or a bad thing. As one TikToker put it: 

While some viewers were quick to call Ari Aster's latest one of their “faves of the year so far,” the general consensus of those who liked the movie (“enjoyed” may be overstating it), seemed perplexed and affected, deducing that that must mean it was good, right? According to this Twitter user: 

Many of the positive reactions almost seemed to be reluctant, like fans were talking themselves into liking the film, including this viewer, who wrote: 

While there were plenty of people who said they wanted to see the movie again — and some already planning their third viewing — others lamented never being able to get their three hours back. This TikTok user seemed nearly speechless, until finally finding the word to express her feelings about the flick: 

Another patron tagged Cinemark in their tweet, asking about the possibility of getting a refund: 

That is pretty bad, if you’d have rather been at work than the movies. Another social media user, meanwhile, refused to accept even the possibility that one could have liked it, tweeting: 

Whether it is an impossible movie to like, or — as this Twitter fan said — there’s “magic in discomfort,” the pain elicited by Ari Aster through Joaquin Phoenix seems to be pretty universally agreed upon. Maybe it comes down to expectation and one’s definition of art. The fan continued: 

Audiences reactions to Beau Is Afraid are certainly all over the board, and it’s pretty amusing to see how polarizing the opinions are. In short, some loved the experience, others despised it, and — probably more than anything else — others aren't quite sure what to think. Check your local theaters to see if the Joaquin Phoenix flick is playing near you, and take a peek at our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to see what else is set to hit the big screen soon. 

Over the course of his career, Joaquin Phoenix has established a reputation as a performer, and it’s not for taking on chill characters and projects. He has a serious dedication to his work, and that has regularly lured him to play serious and/or complicated characters in complex and/or intense films. Writer/director Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid is the latest example of this, with Phoenix playing the anxiety and fear plagued titular antagonist, and while you’d think that he’d might want a break from that kind of exhausting material, you definitely shouldn’t expect to see him in a light romantic comedy any time soon.

Joaquin Phoenix and Ari Aster took part in a virtual roundtable earlier today in advance of Beau Is Afraid hitting theaters last week, and the actor was asked during the conversation if the kind of work he’s been doing takes a toll and if he’d be interested in doing a bit of a career pivot and signing on to make a rom-com. It was an idea that Phoenix didn’t exactly embrace, saying,

I would actually make the argument that Joaquin Phoenix stars in what is one of the best romantic comedies of the 21st century – writer/director Spike Jonze’s Her – but with that film’s heady themes about technology and loneliness, that’s obviously not the kind of rom-com to which he is referring in this conversation.

Eliciting laughs from the room, Phoenix continued,

There is certainly nothing boring about Beau Is Afraid. The film is Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary and Midsommar, and it stars Phoenix as Beau, a permanently anxious man who lives in a world of worst case scenarios and finds himself confronting a seemingly never ending series of challenges and horrifically bizarre circumstances as he tries to take a guilt-ridden trip home to see his mother. You can watch the wild trailer below:

Watching the movie, you can’t help but feel like Joaquin Phoenix must have been completely wiped at the end of the day on set, having spent hours in a near-constant state of high tension – and he hypothesized that his body can’t differentiate between fiction and reality. He says that it does have an impact on him beyond his work, but he has no interest in stopping because he enjoys it:

Co-starring Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Richard Kind, Patti LuPone, Armen Nahapetian, and Zoe Lister-Jones, Beau Is Afraid arrives in theaters on April 21, and as I wrote in my CinemaBlend review, it’s an experience akin to a three-hour panic attack. As early reactions demonstrate, it’s going to be one of the most divisive movies of the year, so give it a watch and judge it for yourself.

For a further look ahead at what’s coming out in coming weeks and months, check out our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.

Ari Aster made an impact with his first two directorial projects — Hereditary and Midsommar — which are considered some of the best horror films of the modern era. And audiences couldn’t wait to see what he did next. Four years later, he is back with Beau Is Afraid starring Joaquin Phoenix, whose title character embarks on an epic journey home following his mother’s sudden death. While Aster had expressed interest in venturing outside of the horror genre, viewers who saw early screenings were left “haunted” by the “nightmare fuel.” The reviews are here, ahead of the movie’s April 21 release, so let’s find out more about Beau Is Afraid.

Alongside Joaquin Phoenix in this surreal dark comedy (Ari Aster’s third movie with A24) is an impressive supporting cast that includes Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan and Richard Kind. The critics have lots of thoughts about this three-hour flick, so we’re jumping right in with CinemaBlend’s review of Beau Is Afraid. Eric Eisenberg rates the movie 4.5 stars out of 5, warning that this is a wholly different experience than Aster’s first two films and saying it will likely go down as the most extravagantly weird film of the year. He continues: 

Kristy Puchko of Mashable describes the film as a 3-hour-long panic attack, peppered with jokes so dark you might laugh or scream. The critic praises Joaquin Phoenix’s “intensely demanding performance,” and while she can’t promise audiences will enjoy Beau Is Afraid, she promises it will fuck you up. The review continues: 

Siddhant Adlakha of IGN also gives the film high marks, rating it an “Amazing” 9 out of 10. The critic says Ari Aster’s latest offering is a surreal three-hour dive into his anxieties, a deeply personal horror-comedy at a wildly ambitious scale. More from the review: 

John Nugent of Empire gives the movie 4 out of 5 stars, wondering where Ari Aster could go next? Beau Is Afraid evokes a visceral anxiety but is still a jaw-dropping joyride, the critic says, where Beau’s irrational fears are real, and his darkest fears are all realized simultaneously. The review continues: 

Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge, like many other critics, notes that Beau Is Afraid will be polarizing to audiences, as discomfort seems very much part of the point. However, as dark and grotesque as the movie can get, this review calls it Ari Aster’s most comedic project to date. He continues: 

Moviegoers sure sound like they’re in for a strange and emotionally affecting outing. Will Beau Is Afraid join the ranks as one of A24’s best horror movies? You’ll be able to make your own assessments when Joaquin Phoenix’s movie hits the big screen on Friday, April 21. In the meantime, check out our 2023 Movie Release Schedule to see what other films are headed to theaters soon. 

Ari Aster’s Midsommar is shocking, horrific and mesmerizing, but one underrated aspect of the fantastic 2019 film is its sense of humor. Amidst the escalating terror and nightmare imagery is a sly winking – a sense that Aster is grinning as his characters trip on shrooms under a midnight sun and is cackling as the protagonist’s terrible boyfriend is sewn into a bear corpse before being set on fire. Hereditary, the writer/director’s feature debut, doesn’t operate the same way, but Midsommar suggests a lurking twisted and wild comedic sensibility.

Beau Is Afraid, Aster’s third and latest film, confirms it.

A wholly different cinematic experience than its predecessors, Beau Is Afraid is essentially an exercise in organized chaos. The story unfolds across three distinctly structured acts as the titular character (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a trouble-filled trip to see his mother (Patty LuPone) – a high concept plot… but it’s set in a world of unfettered madness and unyielding stress. Practically every moment can be described as a worst case scenario, and Beau, raised in a state of fear, is forced to do a headfirst dive into all of his anxieties in hopes of pleasing his overbearing mom.

It’s Beau’s intention to go home to be with his mother on the anniversary of his father’s death, but it’s a task he struggles with almost immediately due to the horrors of his living conditions: a decrepit inner-city apartment above a sex shop that has a constant flow of lunatics roaming out front, a deadly brown recluse spider on the loose and psychotic neighbors who hallucinate that he’s blasting music at all hours (and retaliate by blasting music of their own). Life is constant alarm, and he reasonably dreads the outside world, but his journey is able to eventually begin in earnest after he is attacked in his bathtub, goes running out into the street, is held at gunpoint by a cop, gets hit by a car and is stabbed by a homeless man several times.

Beau Is Afraid is destined to inspire extreme reactions – but keep an open mind.

In case I haven’t made it abundantly clear, Beau Is Afraid will probably go down as the most extravagantly weird film of the year – and as such, it’s also going to be regarded as one of the most polarizing. It’s a major auteur flex from Ari Aster, who surely cashed in every drop of studio good will from Hereditary and Midsommar to make it, and movie-goers who see what he’s doing and get on his wavelength are going to have a ball (and be able to weather the energy drop in the second act). On the other hand, those who don’t keep an open mind and are exclusively expecting something more akin to Aster’s first two features may be inspired to get all rage-y about it on Twitter and react with exaggerations like “WTF worst movie ever” – but this is me strongly recommending that you to not be that person.

Beau Is Afraid is quick to tell you exactly what kind of film it is. When you register its phenomenally odd flavor, it’s really best to just lean back in your theater chair and await the next dose of radical weirdness that is constantly waiting around the corner to abuse the eponymous protagonist and both shock and inspire hysterics in the audience. You won’t always be able to fully understand the reason why something is happening, either in the moment or looking back on the work in its totality, as the movie functions with its own crazy logic – but if you embrace it, you’ll find yourself marveling at it.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers another outstanding lead performance in Beau Is Afraid, and he is surrounded by excellence.

It’s certainly far from surprising that Joaquin Phoenix would excel playing an off-kilter character, but what makes his work in Beau Is Afraid particularly noteworthy are his subtle choices for a protagonist living in an extreme world. He certainly has his moments of panic where he screams, runs and charges through glass doors, but mostly Phoenix keeps Beau’s feelings of fear, guilt, and anxiety behind his eyes, and it has a brilliant grounding effect that only enhances all of the insanity that is going on around him.

Having the opposite effect is the tremendous supporting cast who each have their own way of feeding the film’s wild tone and plotting and all look like they are having a blast doing so. Playing the couple that strikes Beau with their car, Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan are spectacularly demented as Roger and Grace (a pair of mourning parents who seemingly aim to keep Beau at their home as a surrogate for their dead son) – and special mention goes to Kylie Rogers, who plays their daughter and behaves in quite interesting ways to express her dislike of Beau potentially being her new brother. Patti LuPone, Parker Posey and Richard Kind additionally deliver terrific performances… but it would be saying too much to describe specifics of their roles.

From vicious lunacy, to striking animation in the second act, to endgame revelations that make you rethink everything, Beau Is Afraid is madness that has to be witnessed to be fully grasped, and even after that you’re still going to need a lot of time to get your mind around all of it. It’s a remarkable work of tone and character that goes to some bewildering and mind-boggling places (let it be known that I’ve held back writing about a lot of ridiculous surprises in this review), and it not only demonstrates Ari Aster’s tremendous range, but cements him as one of the most fascinating big screen storytellers working today.

Ari Aster has certainly made a name for himself in the modern era of horror, with his first two films, Hereditary and Midsommar, considered by some to be among the best horror movies of all time. For his third project, Aster re-teamed with A24 — which has compiled its own impressively scary collection in the genre — for the “nightmare comedy” Beau Is Afraid. The movie premiered on April 1 to an audience that thought they were seeing a director’s cut of Midsommar, before the joke was revealed and, now, those moviegoers are sharing their first impressions of Aster’s newest film following the surprise screening. 

Beau Is Afraid, which was originally titled Disappointment Blvd., stars Joaquin Phoenix as Beau, who embarks on an epic and surreal odyssey home following the sudden death of his mother. The trailer teases a whole new brand of WTF, seemingly opening a violent cartoon multiverse. Let’s see what people are saying after their surprise screening.

Shahbaz of The Movie Podcast says Ari Aster has done it again, with a haunting film that will stick in your brain long after you’ve left the theater. He tweets: 

Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting revealed A24’s April Fool’s Day prank, calling Beau Is Afraid “demented” and “imaginative”: 

Clocking in at 2 hours and 59 minutes, audiences seem guaranteed to experience every minute of Beau’s emotional journey, and Alison Foreman of IndieWire says she couldn’t hold back her tears after the impossible-to-unpack final act. She tweets: 

Lex Briscuso of SlashFilm similarly requests “5-7 business years” to process the experience. Briscuso says this movie and the director's films in general are proof that filmmakers should make what sings to them, regardless of how weird or niche an idea may seem. The writer continues: 

Film critic Courtney Howard says the director successfully combines horror and humor, and on top of a career-high performance from Joaquin Phoenix, the supporting cast of Amy Ryan, Nathan Lane, Parker Posey, Zoe Lister-Jones, Patti LuPone and more all give terrific performances: 

A number of those who have seen the movie are commenting on Beau Is Afraid’s rewatchability — which is a big ask for a movie with a 3-hour runtime. Daniel Baptista of The Movie Podcast seems to be one who may take in a repeat showing, as he says the movie leaves you second-guessing every frame: 

Beau Is Afraid viewers will have the option to see the movie in IMAX, and Anthony of The Movie Podcast recommends upgrading your ticket for this experience. The podcaster was one of numerous audience members to note that the film evoked feelings of guilt and sorrow:

Ari Aster’s third directorial project sure sounds like an intense experience, but we’ve come to expect nothing less from the filmmaker. The movie is set for a limited IMAX release on April 14 in Los Angeles and New York before its wide release to theaters on Friday, April 21. In the meantime, take a peek at our schedule of 2023 new movie releases to see what other films are headed to the big screen soon and if it's scary you're after, check out these upcoming horror movies.

One thing that Academy Award Winner Joaquin Phoenix and director Ari Aster have in common is that the aren’t afraid of the offbeat. Both of their talents have delved into strange and unusual forms of storytelling, and their work on Beau Is Afraid looks to have tied them together for one such journey. Prepare for the unexpected, as this 2023 new movie release looks to be a violent, yet wryly funny, cartoon multiverse.

This first look at the latest from A24 is a bit of a shock, as this is a movie coming from the same director that gave us Hereditary and Midsommar. Instead of holy dread and brimstone being the terror in trade, Beau Is Afraid looks to be digging into something more subtly horrific: family relations, and our innermost feelings.

And how better to start it all than with a car accident, which prevents Beau (Joaquin Phoenix) from making a big visit to his mother. Thankfully it’s nothing as fatal as the event that helped kick off the winding road to Hereditary’s wild ending, but it’s enough to sideline Beau with some helpful folks. While these good samaritans by the likes of Nathan Lane and Amy Ryan, that casting could break either way as both actors are proficient in comedy and drama.

Cue the introspective journey with animated flourishes, bright and colorful settings, and a wide variety of set designs. Beau Is Afraid isn’t shying away from that supposed multiverse concept, as this short reels seems to promise a journey that bridges decades of time. The de-aged, doll looking version of Joaquin Phoenix is starting to make a lot more sense now, as that was one of the first visuals used to raise some questions about this mysterious film, previously titled Disappointment Blvd.

To be fair, Ari Aster did warn the world about his next film not being a horror picture. Among the quick facts about Beau Is Afraid is Aster’s claim that one of the concepts he was looking to make before returning to the realm of screams was “a zonky nightmare comedy.” Those words register even greater after seeing the film’s trailer, as that is a perfect description of what’s going on here.

From what we’ve seen in this initial round of footage, we shouldn’t expect any burning bears or satanic-adjacent cults to pop up in Beau Is Afraid. But that doesn’t mean potential viewers should head in expecting mere rainbows and adventure.

This is a movie promising, “the greatest adventure” our of Beau’s “darkest fears,” and the gate is wide open for nightmares and punchlines to mingle rather freely. Although now that we think about it, this must have been a hell of a warmup for Joaquin Phoenix’s gig in on Joker: Folie à Deux, which recently started filming.

Beau Is Afraid opens up to the world, only in theaters, on April 21st. If you haven't seen Ari Aster's latest, more horrific film Hereditary, you can catch up on those harrowing delights through the world of streaming. Like most of the A24 library, all you need is a Showtime subscription, or a Showtime add-on through your Paramount+ subscription, and you'll be screaming in no time.

He’s back – or, rather, he will be next year. 

That’s right, you read that correctly – Ari Aster is finally coming back with a new movie soon and we are all counting down the days until it comes out. The mind behind two of the most iconic horror movies of the last few years – Hereditary and Midsommar, is going to be releasing his third film soon enough, simply titled Beau is Afraid, released by A24, the same studio that made his previous films.

But, what is this film going to be about? And when is it going to release? If you’re just as curious as we are, here are six quick things we know about Beau is Afraid, and what you can expect soon.

Beau Is Afraid Is Set To Release At Some Point In 2023

Mark your 2023 movie schedules, viewers, because Beau is Afraid is coming out in theaters next year, in 2023. According to A24’s Twitter page, they announced that the film would be released at some point then. An exact release date is still unknown. 

His first two films, Hereditary and Midsommar, released in June 2018 and February 2019, respectively, so maybe sometime early next year we could end up getting his latest movie. However, since we don’t know, all we can hope is that they stick to the 2023 release schedule. 

Joaquin Phoenix Will Star

Some other big news that was confirmed not that long ago, but further confirmed in that Twitter post, was that Joaquin Phoenix is going to star in Beau is Afraid. 

These two apparently worked very well behind the scenes, with the atmosphere being that of “old friends,” according to fellow co-star, Stephen McKinley Henderson, who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the upcoming movie, back when it was still called Disappointment Blvd.

Joaquin Phoenix has been having himself a great few years, where he starred in the film, Joker, which won him an Academy Award for Best Actor, and was also in C’mon C’mon, so it’ll be exciting to see him come back to another big role. 

Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson, And More Will Also Star

Obviously, we can’t just have one person be the star of Beau is Afraid, and the cast for the film has already been set with plenty of great stars. According to IndieWire, Nathan Lane, Stephen McKinley Henderson (who was mentioned before), Patti LuPone, Amy Ryan, and Parker Posey are all set to have major roles in the movie. 

What a cast list. I mean, Lane has been increased attention lately for the Hulu original series, Only Murders in The Building, along with so many other great projects. LuPone is an acting legend. Ryan has also been in Only Murders in the Building and was a star of Lost Girls, and Parker Posey has most recently been in the Netflix original show, Lost in Space. 

They’ve really just been all over the place, and I can’t wait to see them in this movie to see their acting skills. Even Henderson talked about how excited he was to be acting alongside everyone in that interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter:

The Movie Will Follow One Of The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Of All Time

As with any Ari Aster movie, the details that are out about this film are very limited. However, the bare minimum premise was released for fans to theorize about. According to the same IndieWire piece from before, Beau is Afraid is going to follow the story of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time in a “decades-spanning” portrait of their life. 

Who this person is going to be, we have no idea. We don’t even know if it’s based on a real person or not. But, this is Ari Aster, so we’ll be paying attention to it no matter what. 

But Beau Is Afraid Will Not Be A Horror Movie

This isn’t that surprising, because Ari Aster probably needed some time off from horror movies after the two intense ones he just released, but Beau is Afraid is not going to be a horror movie, according to a Reddit AMA (via IndieWire). 

Back when he was still in the writing stages of Beau is Afraid, Aster was quick to say that he doesn’t want his next movie to be horror, and instead wanted it to be something completely different: 

As someone who does love his horror movies, I have to say that I am a little sad we won’t get to see another one for some time. They are some of the best A24 horror movies and people often debate which one is better. But, I’m here for an Aster comedy too, so bring it on. 

Beau Is Afraid Could Be A “Four-Hour Long Nightmare Comedy”

While the film itself was once called Disappointment Blvd. (as mentioned above),  Aster was still talking about it even then – and it looks like his wishes of making a comedy worked out in a strange way, as Beau is Afraid is going to be a nightmare comedy – and long. 

In an interview that he did with the Associate Students Program Board at UC Santa Barbara, Aster confirmed that he had finished another draft and that it was very long - four hours long, and that it was a “nightmare comedy.” 

What exactly this means, I’m not sure. I always think of the best horror comedies first before anything else because those are pretty crazy, but since this isn’t a horror movie, I’m not entirely aware of what a “nightmare comedy” entails. I’m sure I’ll still be blown away regardless. 

What are you looking forward to the most with Ari Aster’s next film? I’m just counting down the days until it comes out. Now all I need is a premiere date. 

Between Hereditary and Midsommar, writer/director Ari Aster has quickly proven to be a masterful filmmaker with some seriously messed-up stories to tell. So whatever he’s got next, we’ve been on high alert. His mysterious movie with Joaquin Phoenix was announced last year, and it looks like the name has changed from Disappointment Blvd. to Beau Is Afraid – but more interesting than the title switch is  what’s up with this debut poster. 

The official new title for the film was unveiled by A24 (the production company behind enough favorites for a thought-provoking horror movie marathon) alongside a very random and frankly, weirdly composed poster on Instagram. Check it out: 

This looks like a movie called Joaquin Phoenix rather than Beau Is Afraid, which is featured as a hashtag on the bottom left. Plus, what’s with this artwork of the actor as a child in silk pajamas? I’m so confused!

A24 simply captioned the poster “Ari Aster. Joaquin Phoenix. Next year, BEAU IS AFRAID.” And, that’s it. Disappointment Blvd is a much better title in my opinion, but hey, those two names are very much enough to get me excited for Beau Is Afraid regardless. 

Joaquin Phoenix is coming off his 2020 Oscar win for Joker as well as his critically acclaimed 2021 film C’mon C’mon and he has the second Joker movie on the way. Joker: Folie à Deux, which will also star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, recently started filming ahead of its October 2024 release date. 

Beau Is Afraid is being described as a decades-spanning portrait of “one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.” That description definitely makes this literal portrait of a young Phoenix make sense. Perhaps, there will be more that will show the character getting progressively older? In set photos of the project, Joaquin Phoenix has been pictured looking much older, with gray hair and wearing the same gray PJ set as in the poster. 

Given Ari Aster was behind one of the best horror movies of all time, I trust him. There’s some reason why this poster in particular is the first image for Beau Is Afraid. I do wonder if somehow a young Joaquin Phoenix is going to be in this movie, or if this is some sort of metaphor for how childish this “entrepreneur” is. 

My mind is also going to run wild about if this poster is disappointing on purpose because of the original name, or if A24 just put out an odd piece of marketing. I’d imagine this poster is a signal that a trailer could be on the way along with a release date. Currently we know it will be among 2023 movie release dates, but there’s so many more questions than answers right now. 

If you’re into movies like I am, then you’ve undoubtedly seen a ton of excellent films by great directors like Quentin Tarantino, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa, etc. Not only do I love to watch films from all over the world, I also love to watch a director’s entire oeuvre, which is how I’ve seen all 6 George Lucas movies, and every Peter Jackson movie. Here’s what I’ve learned by watching the entire filmography of so many directors: Some of them make a truly great movie on their very first try. 

Now, that’s not to say that they didn’t experiment with smaller projects before their first feature length film, as even Paul Thomas Anderson cut his teeth on the short film Cigarettes and Coffee before he directed Hard Eight. But, when it comes to a first feature length film, some directors just somehow nail it, which often guides the trajectory of their entire careers. So, here are 16 such directors who undoubtedly got it right on their very first feature length film.  

Quentin Tarantino - Reservoir Dogs (1992) 

Here’s what’s interesting about Reservoir Dogs. If Tarantino’s first movie was Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs was actually his last movie, it might feel smaller in scale, sure, but I also think it would still feel like a fitting swansong to an incredible career. That’s how amazing Reservoir Dogs is. It’s so good, I could see him making it today. 

But, it was his first film, and it totally made him explode onto the scene back in the early ‘90s. He would, of course, go on to make Pulp Fiction (his best movie), Inglorious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and many others, but Tarantino’s mark was already made with Reservoir Dogs, and it’s still legendary today.     

Robert Rodriguez - El Mariachi (1992) 

The first (and I would argue best) in Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy, which also contains Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, is said to have only cost $7,000 U.S. dollars to make. It’s about a guitar player who manages to get targeted because of mistaken identity, and he has to take up arms if he wants to live. 

Robert Rodriguez has had an interesting career, jumping back and forth between mature, R-rated films like Sin City and Machete, and kid-friendly stuff like Spy Kids and the hit We Can Be Heroes. That said, it was El Mariachi and its unassuming badassness that got him onto the scene, and it’s still awesome to this day. He’s still awesome to this day, no question.  

Kevin Smith - Clerks (1994) 

There's a reason why Kevin Smith keeps coming back to Clerks, what with the upcoming Clerks 3, and that's because his first movie might just be his very best film ever. The story of a clerk named Dante who shouldn't even be at work today, seems like it has nothing to say and yet everything to say at the same time. Plus, it's all in glorious black and white. 

Kevin Smith's known for movies like Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Red State, and those movies are great and all, but I think most would agree that Smith found his voice with his very first film, and he's mostly kept that voice for the entirety of his career. I'm not complaining.   

Patty Jenkins - Monster (2003) 

Nowadays, Patty Jenkins is most known for bringing Wonder Woman to the big screen, and her future resides in Star Wars with her upcoming movie, Rogue Squadron. But, arguably more interesting is Patty Jenkins' first movie, Monster, which is about the real life serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, played by Charlize Theron, who won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance.  

How good was this movie? Well, Roger Ebert called Monster the best film of 2002, and he proclaimed that Charlize Theron's performance was one of the greatest that he’d ever seen. Not bad for a director's debut picture.  

Jordan Peele - Get Out (2017) 

Before Get Out, Jordan Peele was probably most known as the other half of Key & Peele. But, after Get Out, I’m pretty sure everybody knew who he was as a single entity, as the talented director/writer/actor exploded onto the scene with the movie that many consider the true Best Picture of 2017.  

Now, every new movie he makes is an event. Us was a creepy doppelganger film, and his next project, Nope, is shrouded in mystery, but still highly anticipated. All that white hot anticipation is all due to Get Out, which single-handedly turned this comedian into one of the most important voices in horror today.    

Steven Spielberg - Duel (1971) 

Steven Spielberg was only 24 when he directed his first feature length film, Duel, and the rest is history. Duel has a simple premise - a guy (Dennis Weaver) is terrorized by an unseen truck driver for 80 minutes, and that’s it.  

But, Spielberg, who has made some of the best movies of all time, just nailed it with Duel. The whole film is taut and unsettling, and it’s little wonder why many people pegged Spielberg as a wunderkind all the way back in the early ‘70s. He certainly was!   

Orson Welles - Citizen Kane (1941) 

The year is 2022, and some people are still saying that Orson Welles got robbed when Citizen Kane lost Best Picture to How Green Was My Valley back at the 1942 Oscars. This actually makes sense, because some critics call Citizen Kane the greatest movie of all time. Not bad for a young man's very first feature film. 

In fact, even though Welles directed other great films like The Magnificent Ambersons, and Touch of Evil, he will forever be known as the man who directed quite possibly the greatest film of all time. On his very first try, no less. Unbelievable.  

Sidney Lumet - 12 Angry Men (1957) 

Even though Sidney Lumet directed a little over 40 films, and serious classics including Network, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Verdict, it might be his first movie, the Academy Award-nominated 12 Angry Men, that might be his most accessible and enjoyable work in his filmography. 

Adapted from a teleplay of the same name, 12 Angry Men is spectacular for many reasons, one being the acting, but two being the pacing, which never lets up. In fact, quick pacing and stellar acting is emblematic of a lot of Lumet's movies, and he had it down pat with his very first film. Lumet was a legend.  

Sophia Coppola - The Virgin Suicides (1999) 

Based on the novel of the same name, The Virgin Suicides is about five sisters (one played by Kirsten Dunst) who are closely monitored after the youngest sister attempts suicide. It’s a drama, to be certain, but there is also an undercurrent of dark humor that kind of creates an almost unsettling quality to an already pretty dark story. 

This “unsettling quality” would show up in Coppola’s later films, like Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and especially, The Beguiled. Still, if I were to jumble up all of those movies and throw The Virgin Suicides into the mix, then most people likely wouldn’t be able to tell which is her debut picture, since they’re all the marks of a professional.  

Ridley Scott - The Duelists (1977) 

Ridley Scott is probably most known for movies like Alien, Blade Runner, and the Best Picture-winning Gladiator, but his debut, The Duelists, starring Harvey Keitel and Keith Carradine as warring soldiers who duel each other for decades, was already the mark of master director. 

It’s so good that one of his most recent films, The Last Duel, kind of feels similar in tone and direction. The budget is much higher for The Last Duel, but the acting, pacing, and direction in The Duelists is just as good as it is in the recent film, which is astounding to say the very least.  

Alejandro González Iñárritu - Amores Perros (2000)

The first part of the “Trilogy of Death” (with 21 Grams and Babel), Amores Perros, which roughly translates to "love’s a bitch," slammed into audiences like a car crash with this interesting narrative that connects three separate people to an automobile accident. 

Alejandro González Iñárritu would later go on to direct one of my favorite movies ever in Birdman, but a lot of the electric filmmaking that made that movie so great, was even evident in Amores Perros, which shocks and breaks your heart, sometimes in the very same scene. 

Sam Raimi - The Evil Dead (1981) 

Sam Raimi's come a long way since his debut picture, The Evil Dead. He's helming Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and he came to commercial recognition with his Spider-Man trilogy.   

But, to many, he'll always be "The Evil Dead guy," and for good reason. The first Evil Dead is a seminal entry in ‘80s horror that innovated a lot of unique techniques, such as the camera chasing the characters. Sure, his later Evil Dead movies might be more popular, but that first movie announced a fresh new director, and he'd be here to stay.   

Spike Jonze - Being John Malkovich (1999) 

If you love meta movies, then you’re undoubtedly familiar with the work of Spike Jonze. His second film, Adaptation., was perhaps even more meta than his first, and he managed to make the children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, into a semi-meditative movie featuring James Gandolfini.   

Being John Malkovich garnered him a Best Director Oscar nomination. The film has such a unique strangeness to it that you might attribute it to Charlie Kaufman’s cerebral writing, but, you can see that Spike Jonze’s brain is definitely on a similar wavelength with his other films not written by Kaufman. Being John Malkovich is one of the reasons why some people call 1999 one of the best years in cinema, and this was Spike Jonze’s debut picture. Outstanding!    

Ryan Coogler - Fruitvale Station (2013)  

Before Black Panther, before Creed, there was Fruitvale Station, a film so infuriating that it had this writer seething in his seat when he first saw it. Chronicling the events that led up to the real life death of Oscar Grant, Fruitvale Station seems like the work of an artist who had spent years in the director’s seat, not a directorial debut.  

Coogler's next picture is the hotly anticipated sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but you could see the talent in his first picture, which he made at the tender age of 25. Damn.  

Ari Aster - Hereditary (2018) 

I think it says a lot that Ari Aster only has two feature films to his name, but he's already established himself as one of the leading voices in modern day horror. This was all due to Hereditary, which is still the scariest movie I've ever seen. 

He would later go on to make Midsommar, and one could argue that Midsommar is the better Ari Aster film. Whichever you prefer, I don't think anybody will argue the greatness of Hereditary. Making one of the scariest movies of all time as your very first feature film is no laughing matter. In fact, it’s quite terrifying to be this good.    

Rob Reiner - This Is Spinal Tap (1984) 

Rob Reiner has proven that he can be successful in any genre. He mastered fantasy with The Princess Bride, tackled horror with Misery, and dabbled in romantic comedies with When Harry Met Sally.

But, my favorite, and a lot of people's favorite movie of his, is his debut, the infinitely quotable mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap. The film is probably the funniest rock movie ever made, and it's done in such a way that Spinal Tap seems like a legit band. It's actually kind of sad that they aren't a real band, though, because some of their songs really kick ass.   

What other prominent directors do you think made a great movie on their first try? For news on today's great directors, make sure to swing by here often!   

If you’re a horror fan, you’ve probably got your own list of favorites and most terrifying films. For me, Hereditary is near the top. Honestly, it’s probably up there pretty high, or at least present, for you as well (despite it’s low CinemaScore). Ari Aster’s emotional horror flick does a lot of things right, as do the stars. Star Alex Wolff has opened up about committing to that wild desk scene, and it sounds like the process of filming was almost as hardcore and brutal as it looks on screen.

Alex Wolff was just around 19-years-old when Hereditary came out, and that makes his performance in Hereditary even more impressive. What’s even more, though, is that the young star had some serious commitment to a pretty scary, potentially harmful scene in the film. 

In an interview with The Wrap, Alex Wolff says that he told director Ari Aster he would totally sacrifice his face in the name of art and slam his nose into a desk a few times for that intense scene. Of course, Aster declined this offer, like any sane person would. Here’s how Wolff explains it:

Alex Wolff goes on to say that Ari Aster told him they would get a fake desk for him to bash his face into. Apparently Wolff expected it to be pretty soft and not cause too much pain, but he wasn’t as far off in his first suggestion of slamming into a real desk after all, because it wasn’t the softest thing to bash into. This is what he says:

Hereditary has the most realistic depiction of grief I have ever seen in a film by veteran actor Toni Collette, but the young talent in the film had some wildly impactful and downright impressive scenes as well. And Alex Wolff apparently fought through some pain and pressure for his desk sequence. In the same interview, he says he had to nail the tough scene on the first or second shot, because they only had two of the foam (but still pretty hard) desks. Here it is in his own words:

Honestly, that’s some sacrifice right there. Actors have stunt doubles for just this kind of thing (unless they insist on doing their own stunts), although I don’t know how great a double would have looked on camera in this particular scene. Alex Wolff’s face, although in some pretty wild expressions, is on full display through most of it, minus the creepy shot of his extended arm in the most awkward position ever. I don’t even know if it would be fair to put a double through an experience like that, because someone is going to end up a little hurt either way.

The scene totally works, though, and just like the expressions on the other actors’ faces as they watch Alex Wolff’s character, I would be pretty horrified to be in that room and witness what goes down in the desk scene. Wolff’s commitment pretty much makes the scene. And he has gone on to be in some pretty sweet films since, so it looks like the pain was probably worth it.

You can see Alex Wolf in M. Night Shyamalan’s most recent film Old and alongside Nicolas Cage in Pig. He’s got a few new release films coming out as well, with Susie Searches as his most upcoming title, and hopefully he won’t be slamming his face into any more desks in the future. I feel like one experience with that particular method acting is enough. 

Director Ari Aster has another pretty lengthy film coming out that Hereditary and Midsommar fans will pretty much have to check out, but it won’t be among the upcoming horror films of 2022, because Disappointment Blvd. is not actually just a horror film, but a “nightmare comedy”. Knowing the director, I would be willing to bet that it’s got some seriously amazing scenes in it, though, too.

Check out my profile, and you’ll find that my favorite genre is horror. Sure, horror movies are a dime a dozen, and most don’t even scare me. But Ari Aster is special. Even though he only has two feature length films to his name, both of them have disturbed me to point that I’ve lost sleep at night. But which is the better movie? Hereditary or Midsommar?

Now, I’ve done plenty of these grudge matches. I’ve pit sequels, rap biopics, and even Batman and Moon Knight, against each other. But one thing I’ve never done is decide which is the better standalone movie from the same director. So, that’s what I plan to do! I’ve broken it up into separate categories to ultimately decide which Ari Aster movie is better—Hereditary or Midsommar. Oh, and mega spoilers below.

The Story

Not all horror movies have great storylines, but thankfully, both of Ari Aster’s films have compelling narratives. But which one deals with the occult better?

Hereditary’s Story

An artist, played by Toni Collette, buries her mother, and it all goes downhill from there. We learn that the family might be directly connected to a Satanic cult, and that a certain demon named Paiman wants a body. Preferably male.

Midsommar’s Story

After the death of her family, a young woman, played by Florence Pugh, goes on a vacation with her boyfriend to Sweden to see the Midsummer festival. But it quickly spirals into insane territories and is more a fever dream than anything else. Oh, and there’s a bear in a cage for some reason.

The Story Victor: Hereditary

I love how bizarre Midsommar gradually gets, but Hereditary’s story is much more cohesive, and in that way, much more unsettling.

The Lead Performances

From Jamie Lee Curtis to Bruce Campbell, every great horror movie needs a fantastic lead. But which Ari Aster film has the stronger main character?

Hereditary’s Lead Performance

Toni Collette delivers an astounding performance that goes from grief, to more grief, to…even more grief! But never have the layers of grief been so fully realized on film.

Midsommar’s Lead Performance

Florence Pugh’s performance is interesting. The grief is always underlying, but you can tell that she’s trying to smile her way through it. But she can’t. It’s a complex performance and one that Pugh definitely pulls off.

The Lead Performance Victor: Hereditary

Florence Pugh’s performance is exceptional, but I actually think it’s a little too subtle, while Collette’s performance is Oscar-worthy.

Humor

This might be a strange category for horror, but some people have called Ari Aster’s horror movies… funny? And not just one person, either but multiple people. So, which is the…funnier?...horror movie?

Hereditary’s Humor

I don’t know how anybody can find a movie where a little girl gets her head knocked off by a pole funny, but I guess there’s a sort of dark humor that can be had in this film. There’s one scene toward the end where a naked guy is just chilling in the corner that got a chuckle out of me (I remember thinking, This guy’s here to party). But overall, I don’t think Hereditary is funny. Horrifying, yes. But funny? No.

Midsommar’s Humor

Okay, I can definitely see the humor in Midsommar. In fact, I laughed multiple times while watching it, which was good since it relieved the tension. From the bear that is randomly sitting in a cage, to the old dude getting upset that a kid is pissing on his ancestors, to the infamous crying scene, Midsommar is so weirdly wonderful and bizarre that I find it kind of hard not to laugh.

The Humor Victor: Midsommar

Again, I’m not really sure how Hereditary could be considered funny, but Midsommar definitely wins in the humor department.

The Setting

Some horror movies have more interesting settings than others. From the single room of the first Saw to the apocalyptic mall in Dawn of the Dead, a setting can make a horror movie. But of the two Ari Aster films, which has the better location?

Hereditary’s Setting

Hereditary takes place in a nondescript town and mostly in a single house. We get to see a basement, an attic, a treehouse, and a living room with a boss fireplace, as well as a classroom, but that’s pretty much it. The horror is more in the actual narrative than anything else.

Midsommar’s Setting

Midsommar takes place in beautiful Sweden. It’s idyllic and lovely, which makes the horror even more harrowing since you wouldn’t think anything terrible would happen there, like an elderly person stepping off a cliff to their death and then getting their head smashed in. I’ve never more wanted to go to a location and less wanted to go to a location than I did while watching Midsommar.

The Setting Victor: Midsommar

Hereditary’s setting is pretty tame in comparison to the splendor of Midsommar’s.

Scares

I mean, duh, a horror movie should be scary, right? So, out of the two Ari Aster films, which one is scarier?

Hereditary’s Scares

Let me tell you. Hereditary scared the ever-loving crap out of me for days. For days! Not since the original The Grudge had I been this disturbed by a horror movie. Every time I would close my eyes, I would see Toni Collette’s character hanging upside down and banging her head against the attic door. (Shivers) It’s just the overall tone that does it for me. It’s so unsettling and visceral that it really got deep into my skeleton and never let go. Even now, I have a hard time processing it. It’s just spooky, spooky stuff, and it’s one for the ages.

Midsommar’s Scares

Midsommar isn’t so much scary as it is unnerving. But it’s for that reason that it stuck with me. Especially the ending where the boyfriend is burning to death inside that creepy yellow house. Or that scene where Florence Pugh’s character sees her mother amongst the dancers. It’s a film that at times doesn’t even seem scary at all, which is especially disarming when the scary stuff does actually start happening.

The Scares Victor: Hereditary

I love Midsommar, but if somebody were to ask me the scariest movies I’ve ever seen, then Hereditary would be high on that list, and Midsommar wouldn’t even rank.

Hereditary Vs. Midsommar: Which Movie Wins?

While I find Midsommar to be an experience like no other, I still think Hereditary is the superior film since it sticks to the ribs, heart, and mind so much more. So, Hereditary wins! I would love to say that a new Ari Aster film is in the cards for the 2021 new movie releases, but unfortunately, there isn’t one. But whenever a new Ari Aster movie comes out—even if it’s four hours long—I’ll be there. Won’t you?

This poll is no longer available.

Just because a character looks a certain way on the big screen doesn’t mean that the actor behind that character looks or even acts the same on a daily basis. On any given production, there’s a ton of make-up, lighting and intense preparation that makes movie stars look like, well, movie stars. Hereditary star Milly Shapiro recently shared a post commenting on her character's appearance in Ari Aster’s breakout horror hit. It turns out that she isn’t a fan of how she looked in the movie.

The actress posted her thoughts on TikTok, where she drew attention to the aftermath of being portrayed at her worst, all while being seen by millions of people. Here’s her post:

Milly Shapiro’s TikTok was also captioned with a note mentioning some of the rude comments posted on the trailer. However, she seemed to be in decent spirits about the situation, telling fans to “live laugh love.” It can’t be easy being portrayed in such a negative light, especially in a film as popular as Hereditary. Her character, Charlie, is the black sheep of the family and a central figure in one of the film's biggest twists.

Throughout Hereditary, Charlie behaves in a pretty creepy manner, to say the least. She performs taxidermy on a dead bird, sleeps in a spooky tree house and audibly shares her signature “click.” Her character was featured prominently in promotional material leading up to the film, which some consider one of the best horror films of the last decade.

Honestly, I can totally see where she’s coming from. She pointed out that while filming Hereditary she was purposely made to look her worst. Now, some people may assume that’s how she walks around on a daily basis, which isn’t the case. Just like makeup, lighting and CGI are all used to make people look their best, the opposite is true as well. Just look at Henry Cavill’s CGI mustache removal in Justice League. Wait, was that supposed to look good?

Since starring in Ari Aster’s debut Milly Shapiro has worked on a couple of television projects, including The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, where she appeared as a host, and Cartoon Networks’ JJ Villard's Fairy Tales. She’s also gained a pretty impressive following on TikTok, where she has more than 276 thousand followers.

Ari Aster has gone on to become a rising star in the horror genre, following up Hereditary with his folk-horror hit Midsommar, which starred Florence Pugh. His brutally long and anxiety riddled style has caught the attention of major players in the entertainment industry. He’s already lined up his next project with Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix attached to star.

Hopefully Milly Shapiro’s future projects will see less backlash to her appearance and more acclaim for her performances. Seriously, if you’ve seen Hereditary you already know that she can act. If you haven’t, stop what you are doing and head to Showtime, where it’s streaming right now, and buckle up for one of the scariest movies of the last twenty years.

Acting is by no means easy and it’s no secret that Hollywood can be particularly demanding at times, even for the best in the business. While some actors are willing to go to extreme measures for their roles, it’s rare for fans to get a behind-the-scenes look at the filming process. Black Widow star Florence Pugh recently shared just how intense filming can be with an emotional post detailing that iconic Midsommar crying scene.

The Midsommar actress recently posted to Instagram, where she shed light on how difficult it was to film the emotionally demanding scene, and why it was all worth it in the end:

In the post, Florence Pugh discussed exactly how difficult it was to film the scene, which featured the Little Women actress crying, heaving and screaming alongside seven members of the murderous Swedish commune. Apparently, those involved were so into the moment that they continued to sob, even after director Ari Aster stopped rolling the camera. She went on to note that while it was emotionally draining to film, the scene is one of the most human in Midsommar, and she’s incredibly proud of it.

Despite the intensity of the filming, Florence Pugh previously revealed that she actually enjoys rolling up her sleeves and getting dirty for more intense scenes. Midsommar director Ari Aster is already known for stomach-churning long takes in his films, so it’s no surprise that his Hereditary follow up was one long, foreboding nightmare.

Midsommar made headlines ahead of its digital release by offering free couples therapy, referencing the troubled relationship between Pugh’s character Dani and her boyfriend Christian, played by Jack Reynor. Since hitting theaters back in 2019, Midsommar has inspired a number of celebrities including pop-star Taylor Swift, who posted a celebratory New Year’s photo in a bear costume.

After working on the folk-horror hit, Florence Pugh’s career has skyrocketed. Shortly after Midsommar released, she starred alongside Saoirse Ronan in the Academy Award-winning Little Women. Now, she’s attached to work with Scarlett Johansson as Yelena Belova in the MCU’s upcoming Black Widow.

Her Marvel involvement doesn’t stop there, either. She’s also set to appear in Disney+’s Hawkeye series, which is slated for later this year. Some fans think that she will be taking up the mantle of Black Widow after Natasha Romanova’s heroic sacrifice during Avengers: Endgame. Although she will have some big shoes to fill if that's the cases, I think Pugh is a perfect fit for the MCU’s upcoming Phase 4.

I wouldn’t expect to see anything quite as emotionally intense as Midsommar’s iconic crying scene incorporated into the MCU. That being said, fans will still be able to see Florence Pugh kicking ass and taking names alongside some of Marvel's biggest heroes in Black Widow, which is scheduled to release in theaters on May 7.

While his directorial debut only premiered a little over three years ago, Ari Aster has already developed a considerable following – and it's one that's well-deserved. The filmmaker first inspired movie-goers' nightmares in 2018 with the stunning horror film Hereditary, and then one year later he entirely evaded the sophomore slump with the spectacular Midsommar. Now he is preparing to make his third feature, and while there's not a whole lot that we know about it, one thing we are very excited to now learn is that he has found a collaborator in Joaquin Phoenix.

Deadline is now reporting that the Joker star has now finalized a deal that will see him headline Disappointment Blvd., the film that Ari Aster is planning as his Midsommar follow-up. A24, which produced both of Aster's previous movies, is set to back this new project as well, but they didn't officially comment on the casting report. It's unclear what genre the film will ultimately fall into, but the trade story says that it will chronicle the life "of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time." It's not clear if it will be based on a real person or if it's entirely fictional.

Joaquin Phoenix hasn't been seen in a movie since Todd Phillips' Joker in the back half of 2019, a performance for which he won Best Actor at the Academy Awards, but Disappointment Blvd. won't be his direct follow-up, as he has already completed work on another project. Mike Mills drama C'mon C'mon, which co-stars Gaby Hoffmann and Elaine Kagan completed production more than a year ago, though it doesn't currently have a release date.

As for what else is on the Oscar-winner's plate, he has also signed on to work with Ridley Scott on the upcoming movie Kitbag, which will see him play Napoleon Bonaparte. That project started coming together last October when Phoenix signed on, and last month it was reported that the movie is going to be made as an Apple TV+ exclusive.

Disappointment Blvd. is presumably aiming for a theatrical release right now – and based on some previous comments from Ari Aster it sounds like it will be a real epic. Last June he was quoted saying that his next movie would be four hours long and referred to it as an adults-only "nightmare comedy." He didn't specifically name the project at the time, so it's possible that he was talking about something else back then, but the notion that he's describing this Joaquin Phoenix-led film is exciting.

The new report says that Disappointment Blvd. will likely be the next thing that the Joker star shoots, so hopefully it won't be too long before new information about it starts rolling in.

Even though Stephen King hates it, The Shining is considered by many to be the scariest horror movie of all time. It continues to get better with age and has been dissected and analyzed to death (go watch Room 237 and you’ll see what I mean). As a landmark piece of cinema, many horror fans wouldn’t dare dream of it being remade and many horror directors wouldn’t dare try. But after watching Doctor Sleep, I think someone should give it a shot.

Don’t get me wrong, I love The Shining. It has some of Stanley Kubrick’s best work. But The Shining isn’t a perfect movie; its storytelling lacks depth. I think with the right visionary director, it could be remade well for modern audiences and feel more cohesive with Doctor Sleep. Still, to take on a seemingly insurmountable task, you would need a truly outstanding director at the helm. Here are the people who I think could make The Shining truly horrifying.

Mike Flanagan

This choice is practically a given. Mike Flanagan did the next best thing to remaking The Shining and adapted Stephen King’s sequel, Doctor Sleep, into a movie. Not only that, but he did the impossible by honoring Stanley Kubrick’s vision while simultaneously staying faithful to Stephen King’s book. And hey, Stephen King liked it, so that's a good sign.

Mike Flanagan also did a great job adapting Gerald’s Game, another one of Stephen King’s works. So, he seems to understand the author; a challenge many before him have long struggled with. That said, the biggest problem I can see with Mike Flanagan is that he might struggle to step outside Kubrick’s shadow. It's one thing to make Doctor Sleep, and something else to make The Shining your own, but I imagine he'd still stand a good chance.

Lee Unkrich

It might sound strange to tap the director of Pixar’s Toy Story 3 and Coco to remake The Shining. After all, it's doubtful anyone wants Pixar's The Shining. Lee Unkrich, though, has a particular love and passion for The Shining. He saw the movie when he was 12 years old in the theater and remembers wanting to make movies from that point on. Since then, Stanley Kubrick’s style has been a guiding light for Lee Unkrich’s directorial decision making.

If you look closely, Toy Story 3 and Coco have several easter eggs pointing back to The Shining. But even on a deeper level, he made sure everything down to the color of Andy’s shirt had a reason behind it, something inspired by Stanley Kubrick's obsessive attention to detail. On top of all that, the director has his own blog about The Shining. If that’s not devotion, I don’t know what is. All that to say, if someone is going to remake The Shining, perhaps it should be a totally devoted fan like Lee Unkrich.

Yorgos Lanthimos

Since the release of The Lobster, every feature Yorgos Lanthimos has directed has been a critical home run. Moreover, they’ve been increasingly strange, unsettling and surreal in the absolute best way. Not only can he tell a captivating story, but he also has a unique visual style that makes him a solid candidate to make The Shining his own and set it apart from Kubrick's version.

Perhaps The Killing of a Sacred Deer proved this to me the first time I saw it. The mood and tone felt very Kubrickian at times. Following a surgeon who is forced to make an unthinkable sacrifice of a boy he's taken under his wing, it's creepy, disturbing and takes its time, finalizing the horror in one insane ending. But, Yorgos Lanthimos isn’t the type of director who does huge studio blockbusters, and The Shining would absolutely be that; so, he might not be a perfect fit. And yet, If he was attached to The Shining remake, I’d be the first in line to see it.

Panos Cosmatos

Mandy... need I say more? The bonkers love story-turned-maddened descent into the bowels of revenge and violence has everything in its cinematic tool belt The Shining remake needs. Panos Cosmatos’ visual style is like no other. It's ethereal, stark, bold and weird. These are just a few things that come to mind. But, he also knows how to gradually ratchet up the intensity until you feel like you’re losing your mind. That’s the kind of storytelling The Shining remake needs.

Unfortunately, as far as storytelling goes, Mandy is about as deep as a shot glass. Panos Cosmatos would excel at making The Shining a bizarre visual spectacle like no other, but it’s hard to say if he could improve on the adaptation and the story, which would be a big reason why The Shining should be remade in the first place. That said, if there was an announcement that Panos Cosmatos was remaking The Shining with Nicolas Cage playing Jack Torrence, I'd be all in.

Ari Aster

One quick glance at Ari Aster’s resume and you might scoff at the idea of a relatively new and young director trying to remake Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. But, once you watch Hereditary, Ari Aster’s first feature film, you might change your tune. Hereditary is a complex, disturbing and meticulous horror movie that on the surface looks pretty straightforward, but has so many twists and turns that the end will leave you speechless.

Ari Aster’s biggest weakness is in the adaptation of Stephen King’s work. So far he has only written and directed his own movies. It has yet to be seen if he could equally direct someone else’s vision. Nevertheless, if push came to shove, I bet he could do something really special with it.

Guillermo Del Toro

Two-time Academy Award-winning director Guillermo Del Toro knows horror like the back of his hand. From Pan’s Labyrinth to Crimson Peak to The Shape of Water, he’s a proven visionary writer and director that has a unique ability to creep an audience out.

But it’s his work on Crimson Peak that resembles The Shining the most. There are some interesting similarities, namely that it’s about an aspiring author who runs off to a large house that also happens to be haunted. While Crimson Peak is notably Victorian and leans heavily on the macabre, the atmosphere Guillermo Del Toro creates would be an excellent choice to helm a remake of The Shining.

Amy Seimetz

Amy Seimetz has a relatively short directorial resume, but what she lacks in quantity, she makes up for in quality. Her feature debut Sun Don’t Shine highlights her ability to juxtapose a loving relationship with deep underlying tensions that become uncomfortable, violent and terrifying. It’s this grasp of what lies beneath that could play to her favor with a psychological horror like The Shining.

But it’s in her sophomore feature She Dies Tomorrow where she really shows a talent for psychological warfare on the audience. In the movie, the main character, Amy, knows she’s going to die tomorrow, and this paranoid feeling becomes contagious, infecting all her friends around her. Knowing how to use mood and paranoia to scare an audience is exactly what a director remaking The Shining will need, and Amy Seimetz has already shown a skill for it.

Jordan Peele

Jordan Peele has only written and directed two horror films: Get Out and Us. However, that’s really all he needed to irrevocably change his position from a funnyman on Key and Peele to a master of the horror genre. He now has his hands in a ton of genre projects, including The Twilight Zone, Lovecraft Country and Candyman.

Both Get Out and Us are about as horrifying as they are thought-provoking, playing mind games with the audience well after the credits have rolled. Jordan Peele's clever approach to writing and his deft hand at directing easily makes him a solid contender for taking on such a huge project. He could bring both sophisticated storytelling and striking visuals to The Shining, and throw in some nice layered subtext for good measure.

Jennifer Kent

Jennifer Kent directed The Babadook, which is about as pure of a horror movie as they come. It doesn’t depend on jump scares and cheap tricks to freak out the audience. Instead, she plants a tiny fear of the Babadook in your mind and slowly builds on it until it becomes too crazy and overwhelming to handle.

The Babadook is about a woman whose husband died violently, and she struggles to love her six-year-old son. Over the course of the movie, her son has wild hallucinations of the Babadook, a monster that her son says is coming to kill them. It’s a slow-burn horror that increases the fear like a balloon until it finally pops. This struggle of a mother and son against a villainous enemy feels like a distant relative to The Shining. So it’s not totally out of the question that Jennifer Kent could take on the project and make it just as horrifying, if not more so.

Robert Eggers

Robert Eggers is also a relative up-and-coming director, but like many of the others on this list, he’s crafted some truly captivating and mind-blowing films. His directorial debut was The Witch back in 2015, and he just recently released The Lighthouse last year. Take one look at Willem Dafoe's crazed face and you might understand why Robert Eggers could tackle a remake of The Shining.

The Witch could be one of the scariest movies of 2015, if not one of the scariest movies of the decade. Similar to The Babadook, it’s a slow-burn horror that puts a lot of weight on atmosphere and gradual tension between the main character, Thomasin, and her devoutly Christian family in 1630 New England. Similarly, The Lighthouse is about two lighthouse keepers in the 1890s New England that gradually go insane on an island. Both movies deal with characters slipping into the mouth of madness and both are just as mind-numbingly horrifying and bizarre. Robert Eggers has a clear talent for telling unique stories in very unique ways. He also excels at driving his characters to the point of lunacy and violence like few others today. Both of these qualities, I’d say, are the perfect combination to tackle Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece.

Too often, The Shining feels like a pinnacle that can’t be overcome. There’s no doubt that Stanley Kubrick set a high bar, but we’re living in a time full of visionary filmmakers that have crafted truly bone-shaking horror movies. I think these directors would do a great job remaking The Shining. But what do you think? What director would you want to see tackle the project? Let us know in the poll and comments below!

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SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Hereditary. If you have not yet seen the film, proceed at your own risk!

Ari Aster is one of a few filmmakers in recent years who has made a huge splash with a horrific debut film, others being Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, and Jennifer Kent, but make no mistake: Hereditary is an exceptional and special piece of storytelling. Introducing audiences to the hyper-detailed craft of its writer/director, the film grips you with its family drama, and then makes you scream as it invades your mind with slowly escalating witchcraft. It all culminates in an ending that horror fans will be talking about for years and years – and it’s that ending that we are here to examine today!

Having already dug deep into the final act of Ari Aster’s Midsommar, we’re taking a step back through time to dive into the filmmaker’s first feature effort… and to say that there’s a lot to unpack would be a severe understatement. Hereditary’s ending is a wonderful culmination of all the film’s complexity and insanity, so we’ll start with a reminder of how things go down in the final minutes of the film.

What Happens At The End Of Hereditary?

There’s no exact science in pinpointing where the end Hereditary begins (mostly because of the aforementioned slow escalation), but we’ll start this recap immediately after Annie (Toni Collette) throws Charlie’s journal into the fireplace and in effect causes her husband Steve (Gabriel Byrne) to spontaneously immolate. That night, Peter (Alex Wolff) wakes from his midday nap – still in pain from the incident at school that caused him to smash his face against his own desk multiple times. Outside he sees an ominous glow in the treehouse, and as he stands, he observes a glow coming from the ground… and his mother impossibly crawls on the wall behind him.

Peter leaves his room to the fly-filled hallway, the attic still open from when Steve went up earlier, and he makes his way downstairs. When he gets to the living room he sees that all of the furniture has been moved away, and by the fireplace is the charred corpse of his father – identifiable by his wedding band. As Annie can be seen hanging in the corner of the ceiling behind him Peter turns to see a naked man standing in the doorway to the kitchen smiling – the same man who smiled at Charlie at the funeral.

When Peter turns back around, Annie is gone, but then she leaps from another corner of the room and chases him up the stairs. He gets to the attic and pulls up the ladder, and he pleads with his mother to stop banging on the door. Just as you contemplate to yourself how it’s possible that she could be banging a door on the ceiling, we see that Annie is repeatedly bashing her skull against the closed hatch.

The banging stops suddenly, and Peter is left to observe the attic. The space is lit with candles, and while the body that Annie discovered earlier is gone, there is an outline in its place with a yearbook photo of the teenager where the head wasn’t/should have been (the eyes spookily poked out). Peter begins to talk to himself and slap his own face, trying to convince himself that he’s asleep – but then a sloppy crunch turns his attention to the greatest horror of all: the sight of his own mother strung up by the ridge of the roof and slowly using a razor wire to decapitate herself. This sight is interrupted by Peter discovering a trio of naked people in the attic with him, and he takes a quick dive out the window, crashing through the glass.

As Peter lies unconscious in the garden, we hear the sawing continue until a final cut results in the sound a body hitting the ground in the attic. Meanwhile, a bright ball of white light drifts down and lands on Peter’s back.

Peter stands up in time to see the headless body of his mother mystically floating up and into the treehouse. Reminiscent of his deceased sister Charlie (Milly Shapiro), he clucks his tongue, and then as though in a trance begins to walk toward the treehouse – more naked people lined up along his path. As he makes his way up the ladder and into the treehouse, he discovers a group of strangers bowing, and sees a wood model that is adorned with Charlie’s decapitated head wearing a wooden crown, and the familiar symbol from throughout the movie carved into its chest. The headless bodies of Annie and his grandmother sit in front of it in a bowed position.

Slowly turning, he then sees a framed black and white photo of his grandmother sitting on a wooden chair, the engraved plate beneath it reading “Queen Leigh.” From off screen we hear the calm voice of Joan (Ann Dowd), who assures “Peter” that he’s safe, taking the crown off Charlie’s head and putting it on his while saying,

As Joan leads the group in praising Paimon’s name, we quickly zoom out to see the treehouse as one of Annie’s art pieces, and the film cuts to black.

While some elements of Hereditary’s ending are self-explanatory, there are other aspects that may have you scratching your head a bit… but we have you covered!

What Happened To Peter?

Starting with a bit of the self-explanatory stuff, Joan didn’t just make a slip and call Peter by the wrong name. At the end of Hereditary, it appears that Peter’s soul is no longer represented in his own body, as the devil worshipers have performed a ceremony that has given control of him over two new hosts: Charlie and the demon King Paimon. The first bit of evidence showcasing the former’s presence is the tongue clucking demonstrated when “Peter” rises from his unconscious state, but explaining why Paimon couldn’t just occupy Peter alone requires reflecting on particular details provided earlier in the film.

As we learn through the funeral and support group scenes, Annie and her mother had an extremely complicated relationship, and that very much included the time that Leigh got to spend around her grandchildren. Annie completely cut ties with her after Peter was born, not wanting him to have any influence over him, but there was an attempt at reconciliation when Charlie was born. This is an opportunity that Leigh enthusiastically took, even going as far as to insist that she be the one who fed Charlie as a baby. This was the start of a complicated grooming process, of which we don’t know all of the details.

There are little hints dropped along the way that there is a greater influence at play, such as Charlie bemoaning that her mother wishes she was a boy, Peter learning in English class about tragedy in fatalistic circumstances, and the symbol of King Paimon engraved on the telephone pole that winds up impacting with the young girl’s head at high speed. There is also the symbolism in Charlie essentially being a found object artist who re-appropriates things for her own purposes. However, the scene where the core of the ending is spelled out is when Annie discovers her mother’s research and spell journals.

After discovering the friendship between Joan and Leigh, Annie finds a highlighted passage in a book that states that summoning King Paimon requires a vulnerable vessel, and that the demon has been known to be “livid and vengeful when offered a female host.” Applying what the movie tells us, this means that Peter would have been the ideal target from the beginning, but Annie keeping him away from her mother prevented his preparation for the ritual. Changing course when circumstances changed, Leigh and the other cultists prepared Charlie for the ritual instead, and then made the necessary moves to transfer her soul into her brother’s body so that Paimon could be invoked.

With the majority of the occult action happening off screen, the full extent of the ceremony is unclear, but evidence suggests that part of it was getting Annie to hold a séance with her family so that Charlie’s soul would return to the house. Based on the illustration of King Paimon in the book, it also appears that three decapitated heads are required, as the demon rides with them attached to his saddle. If you’re keeping count, the cult gets these heads from Leigh (presumably willingly), Charlie (who loses her head thanks to the telephone pole), and Annie (who saws her own head off).

Horrible? Most definitely. But “Horrible” and “Horror” have the same root, and in Hereditary what we see is horribleness executed brilliant.

What Ari Aster Says About The Hereditary Ending

One thing that’s interesting to note about Hereditary is that it didn’t fully make up its own mythology. If you do your own independent research (which may be how you found this article in the first place) you’ll discover that King Paimon is not an original creation, but instead a demon that real people follow and worship.

Being the meticulous filmmaker that he is, Ari Aster dug into the histories and stories, but it didn’t precisely lead him to change his life and start worshiping a new deity. Rather, while Aster is a director who has a habit of making his audiences stare at the truly horrific, there was only so much that he could stomach of the research before he had to shut it all down. Speaking with Vox the filmmaker said,

Taking only what he needed, Aster seems fairly positive that he got some details wrong, but knowing that he’s not demon worshiper will hopefully excuse any mistakes. He continued,

As for the larger themes of Hereditary, the horror genre makes for a wonderful exploration of the true drama that is at the heart of the film, which is the deep fear that all of us possess in times of grief and the way it forces us to grapple with our own mortality and where we come from. Speaking with Vanity Fair in a separate interview, Ari Aster explained.

If you’re now feeling inspired to watch Hereditary all over again, you can do so instantly if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, as it is currently available to stream on their service. Those who aren’t members can purchase digital copies from online retailers, and also find the film on Blu-ray and DVD.

WARNING: The following article contains multiple spoilers to Midsommar. Continue reading if you dare...

It has been roughly a year since writer and director Ari Aster gave Americans a reason to cancel any upcoming trips to Sweden they may have planned. If there was any doubt in your mind that a film like Midsommar could be any more disturbing, we have found a few behind-the-scenes facts that might just convince you otherwise.

The story of a grieving college student (Florence Pugh) who follows her emotionally distant boyfriend (Jack Reynor) on a summer trip to a rare pagan festival made the Academy Award-nominated Pugh (for Little Women) a household name, cemented Ari Aster as one of the most unique storytellers of the horror genre after already gave enough people the willies with Hereditary, and also proved that nightmares can exist even in broad daylight. Midsommar is a combination of so many odd elements and relentlessly dreadful themes that do not seem like they should work together, yet it is that particularly uncomfortable dissonance that lends to its lasting effect.

If you still find yourself scratching your head over what the film actually means, we might actually be able to help. The following 9 bits of trivia will take you deeper into the narrative themes, on-set stories, and the cultural impact of Midsommar.

Ari Aster Wrote A 100-page “Bible” Developing The Story Of Midsommar

Ari Aster was sure to keep the heinous depictions of pagan ritual in Midsommar a priority in the development process. In fact, his notes plotting out the details for the world of the film materialized into about 100 pages of notes, something much of the cast actually were not even aware of. When CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg asked William Jackson Harper, who plays Josh, Will Poulter, as Mark, and Vilhelm Blomgren, who plays their Swedish friend Pelle, about Aster's "bible," it was apparently Harper and Blomgren's first time hearing about it, but given the filmmaker's demanding process and keen attention to detail, it did not sound like much of a stretch to the actors.

Many Of The Bizarre Rituals Depicted In Midsommar Are Based In Fact

Thankfully, (or probably even more disturbingly so), not all of the details of Ari Aster's movie bible came purely from the darker corners of his mind. Some of the strangest moments from Midsommar do reference actual ritualistic practices and pre-existing folklore that Aster came across in his research for the film, but mostly as a basis for his own fictionalized interpretations, as he explained to Letterboxd in the quote below:

Oh, dear. Well, now, I suppose you know not to blame the messenger for losing your lunch over that twisted scene.

Sweden-Set Midsommar Was Actually Filmed In Hungary

Despite how Ari Aster's strict attention to authenticity for Midsommar is no secret, one crucial element of the film that turns out to have been an act of fabrication is the setting. While it takes place in the country of Sweden during a real (but, of course, grossly exaggerated) traditional Swedish cultural festival, the film was actually shot near Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which Aster has claimed was due mainly to budgetary limitations.

Jack Reynor Advocated For His Own Nude Scenes In Midsommar

One of the more shockingly authentic details of the film, however, depicts Jack Reynor's character, Christian (a.k.a. "Boyfriend of the Year"), at his most "naked" in Midsommar, which he believed was an absolute must to take as literally as possible as often possible. While the nude scenes were included in Ari Aster's original script, the Irish actor personally insisted on emphasizing him going full frontal, seeing it as "an opportunity to take a character who exhibits a lot of archetypal male characteristics — like male toxicity — who has all of the stuff stripped away from him through the course of the film and then ultimately finds himself in this situation which is kind of the ultimate humiliation," as he said to Variety. 

It is no wonder why Reynor celebrated his return from that taxing production in well-deserved, booze-swilling bliss afterward.

Florence Pugh Has A Lighter Interpretation Of Midsommar’s Final Scene Than Ari Aster

Arguably more disturbing than Jack Reynor's nude scene is his death scene, to which his (now) ex-girlfriend, Dani, reacts to with a smile as bright as the Swedish sun. This perplexing final moment in Midsommar inspired differing interpretations, such as Florence Pugh's belief that her jubilance is a childlike, disorientated response to the incendiary display, blissfully unaware Christian is part of it, adding, "You're not going to watch your boyfriend cheat and be like, 'Burn!'" 

However, the man who wrote it, Ari Aster, claimed the opposite to USA Today, stating:

Midsommar Originally Scored An NC-17 Rating

Among those aforementioned scenes edited from the theatrical version of Midsommar are probably the same details that earned the film an NC-17 rating at first. As Ari Aster revealed during a Q&A with fans on Reddit in the summer of 2019, it took six weeks of "back-and-forth" before his F-bomb worthy kaleidoscope of hedonistic, graphically explicit insanity could be given a more commercially acceptable R rating, which could be one of the rare instances in which you can actually empathize with the MPAA for being a little picky. For those who have the stomach to experience even more from the world of the thriller, a 3-hour director's cut is also available.

Ariana Grande Had A Midsommar-themed Birthday Party

Someone who clearly could not get enough of the world of Midsommar is Grammy-winning pop music singer Ariana Grande, who cited Ari Aster's feature-length sophomore effort as her favorite film of 2019. Instead of having the patience to wait another 90 years to experience the festivities of the titular cultural event, the former Nickelodeon star decided to turn her own 27th birthday party into a recreation of the festival, even going as far as sharing a photo on Instagram of herself in a floral Mayqueen crown a la Florence Pugh, who also expressed praise of the celebration on the social media platform. Hopefully, that was the extent of any similarities to anything depicted in the film.

Midsommar Is Largely Inspired By Ari Aster’s Own Past Relationship

In retrospect, amid all the odd, cultish themes and tragic subject matter, it should not come as too much of a surprise to learn that Ari Aster intended for Midsommar to be perceived as a breakup movie. The writer and director explained to Birth.Movies.Death that, "I saw a way of marrying the breakup movie that I had in me at the time with the structure of a folk horror film," but does not mention in that particular interview that a former romantic relationship from his own life served as the basis of the story. When speaking with the San Antonio Current, who asked him if his ex realizes they inspired Dani and Christian's stunted romance, Aster says, "I don’t know. I imagine they might have some idea. I can’t imagine they’d be happy about it."

Free Couples Therapy Was Given Away In Promotion Of Midsommar’s Digital Release

It seems that Ari Aster and A24, the production company behind Midsommar, were aware that the film would not be a very good date movie and might feel somewhat responsible if its anti-romantic themes were to cause any friction between once-happy couples who saw it together. So, to promote the thriller's release on digital platforms, a contest was held promising to award the winning participants with three months of free couples counseling, courtesy of online therapy site Talkspace. 

An ironically funny video announcing the promotion compiles many of the most tenuous moments between Dani and Christian in the film along with testimonies from Ari Aster and Florence Pugh, who admits that she believes her portrayal may invoke trust issues for a future significant other, but it is hard to imagine anyone suffering a greater fate to their romantic life after that than Jack Reynor, who is, thankfully, engaged already.

What do you think? Have all of your questions about Midsommar been answered or do you feel we are still ignoring the bear? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on Ari Aster’s cult masterpiece, as well as even more in-depths looks at some of your favorite movies and TV shows, here on CinemaBlend.

Ari Aster has only written and directed two feature films, but already he has created a significant reputation for himself and his movies. With an Ari Aster movie, you know you're going to be getting something dark and terrible, a story that is as emotionally taxing as it is visually horrifying. You also know you're going to be there for awhile. Both Hereditary and Midsommar were films over two hours long, and now Ari Aster is saying next film could see a runtime of four hours.

While Hereditary was barely over two hours long, Midsommar's first release came in at two and a half hours, and a nearly three hour long cut exists as well. That's a long time to be subjected to a movie that can torment an audience as well as its characters, but Asi Aster recently told a class at the University of California, Santa Barbara that his new movie will be even longer than that...

Technically, the length of the movie isn't actually all Ari Aster knows about his film. He also confirms it will be for audiences over 17, so rated-R here. It's also being described as a "nightmare comedy" which at the very least will change things up for the filmmaker. Comedy is certainly going to be new for him, though "nightmare" is a good description of his previous films as well.

A four hour movie is a long movie regardless of what you're watching, but it seems even longer for whatever it is Ari Aster is working on. Both horror movies and comedies tend to be films that come in with shorter runtimes than your average film, simply because both comedy and violence tend to work better when they don't overstay their welcome.

Avengers: Endgame took some heat for coming it at three hours long, and that was a Marvel movie, something with built-in audience appeal. A lot of people approached Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, at three and a half hours long, like it was a limited series because of its length. While Ari Aster has certainly built a fanbase thanks to two exceptional films, one wonders how many people would give a four long nightmare comedy a chance.

Our own ReelBlend also spoke with Ari Aster about his films and career. Check it out below.

Still, this sounds like it's going to be a very interesting movie regardless of how long it ends up being. Ari Aster is an incredibly creative filmmaker and whatever comes out of this is almost certainly going to be something worth checking out. Even if a lot of people might decide to wait to do so until they can watch it at home and hit pause now and then.

Midsommar is currently busy wrapping up its theatrical run, which means the next step is a home entertainment release. While a DVD, Digital and Blu-ray release is coming fairly soon, there will also be a Director’s Cut for the major fans of the horror flick and now we know where fans will be able to stream it.

Per a new notice on iTunes, Midsommar’s Director’s Cut will actually be a Digital exclusive to Apple TV. Apple also says the streaming set will come with some additional extras, noting:

If you are looking to see the Director’s Cut Ari Aster put together prior to its home release, you may be in luck. Ari Aster’s film actually got a big Labor Day weekend boost thanks to the Director’s Cut and added 632 theaters last weekend, so if that’s something you’re interested in seeing, now is the time to dive in. The re-release actually led to a 1,217.4% increase at the box office over the weekend, which is a huge percentage, although it's worth noting Midsommar was initially out on July 3, so it has been in theaters for a couple of months already and was in a much more limited release by the time it got this boost.

Related: Midsommar’s Florence Pugh And Director Ari Aster Don’t Agree On Ending

Ari Aster mentioned earlier this summer that he was working on a Director’s Cut of Midsommar and the turnaround has been rather quick. In fact, the DVD, Blu-ray and Digital release will actually be coming out in.

If you’d prefer a hard copy of the set, that’s an option too. The movie from Lionsgate will hit DVD and Blu-ray on October 8. Previously announced extras for those sets include a “Bear in a Cage” promo and a “Let The Festivities Begin” featurette. The sets will retail for $39.99 and $29.95 respectively.

Midsommar has reportedly made a fairly solid return on its budget so far. Allegedly made for $8- $10 million, the movie has pulled in $35.5 million worldwide. So, no, it’s not competing with the likes of Hobbs & Shaw at the box office, but it doesn’t have to.

Midsommar is Ari Aster’s sophomore directorial debut, following Hereditary. The movie is one of several that have come back for secondary or extended releases in theaters as a way to make additional money for a film. (Some of these rereleases and new cuts have worked better than others.)

Midsommar can still be seen in theaters now. To see what else is coming before year's end, be sure to take a look at CinemaBlend's movies schedule or see what is heading to DVD, Blu-ray and Digital with our full guide.

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Midsommar! Continue at your own risk.

During a Reddit AMA last month, Hereditary director Ari Aster revealed that he was working on a director’s cut of his sophomore effort, this summer’s sun-drenched horror film Midsommar, though at the time we didn’t know when or how we would be able to see this version of the movie. But while many of the film’s mysteries still compel, this is no longer one of them. Midsommar’s Director’s Cut is now officially set to hit theaters, and it will be doing so this weekend no less. Check out the announcement trailer below:

What better timing for the Midsommar Director’s Cut to be released than right as the summer months officially come to a close? (Specifically on on August 30th) Audiences can enjoy some good old-fashioned ritual murder before heading back to school and their lives in autumn. The timing is pretty smart too, since the film’s initial release isn’t so far in the past to have been forgotten, plus this weekend is pretty weak as far as exciting new releases are concerned. That makes it a great time to catch up on a big screen experience like this one.

As far as the trailer for the director’s cut of Midsommar is concerned, it plays things fairly close to the vest, not showing too much of the new material. Going by my own memory, this trailer does offer up looks at some things that were in the film but were kept out of the original trailers - like whatever the hell the cult did to Will Poulter’s Mark. But whatever new footage is featured in the longer version is being mostly kept a secret.  According to the promo, it will feature both new scenes and extended footage.

One of the things that appears to be new is the moment where Florence Pugh’s Dani is surrounded by darkness, and she opens her mouth up to allow a dark smoke to emerge. I don’t recall that from the film, but I might be mis-remembering. Something that was definitely new is the bit where Dani and Jack Reynor’s Christian go into the woods.

Ari Aster has said that there was a scene cut from the middle of the film that involved a huge fight between the couple and that he never imagined wouldn’t make it in. The Midsommar Director’s Cut surely gave him the opportunity to put it back, and it seems like that probably happened. That’s a good thing story-wise because it will strengthen the ultimate decision Dani makes at the end of the movie... without getting to deep into the nitty-gritty details.

Ari Aster's initial assembly cut of Midsommar was a whopping three hours and 45 minutes, but the Director’s Cut won’t be nearly that long. The new, unrated cut of the film will be two hours and 50 minutes, which will make it about 24 minutes longer than the two hour-and-27-minute theatrical cut.

This extra time should allow for more character moments as well as, hopefully, some more gruesome pagan rituals. If you're curious and don't care about spoilers, IndieWire has a breakdown of what's included in the director's cut of Midsommar. With any luck this won’t just be a one-weekend theatrical event either, and the unrated director’s cut of Midsommar will eventually make its way to Blu-ray as well. As of now, the director’s cut isn’t set to be on the film’s home video release, which is scheduled for October.

Midsommar: The Director’s Cut arrives in theaters on August 30. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see all the movies on the way as summer comes to a close.

Warning: SPOILERS for Midsommar ahead!

Unlike many tentpole blockbusters, the horror genre is not known for producing 2+ hour films. That makes Ari Aster’s wild new horror flick Midsommar something of an anomaly. Midsommar clocks in at a whopping 2 hours and 27 minutes, but it turns out it could have been even longer with all the footage left on the cutting room floor. Fortunately, not all that footage will go unseen for long, because Ari Aster is putting together a director’s cut of the film, as he explained:

Ari Aster’s reveal of a future director’s cut of Midsommar came in response to a fan question during a Reddit AMA. Not only is the director working on an extended cut of the film, but it won’t be one of those piddling director’s cuts with just a few minutes of deleted scenes either; he’s anticipating that it will be at least a half an hour longer.

If you’re wondering where Ari Aster got the 1 hour 20 minutes he mentioned from, the director previously spoke to GameSpot and said that his original cut of Midsommar was an epic 3 hours and 45 minutes. So if you do the math, he cut 78 minutes or roughly an hour twenty, from the theatrical version of the film. He won’t be reincorporating all of that into his extended cut, but a half-hour plus is significant.

The question now obviously is: what was cut from Midsommar and what will be put back in for this director’s cut of the film? We’ll mostly have to speculate, but Ari Aster did tell GameSpot that one of the scenes that was excised for the theatrical cut came in the middle of the film and involved a huge fight between Florence Pugh’s Dani and Jack Reynor’s Christian.

The director said he never could have imagined that he would cut this scene until he did, so the extended cut presumably gives him an opportunity to put it back. I can definitely see where a scene like that would be beneficial. Dani and Christian’s relationship throughout the film is strained but for me personally, I think seeing a real contentious fight between the girlfriend and boyfriend could add to the arc of their relationship and would help enforce Dani’s decision at the end of the film.

A director’s cut could also give us greater insight into the world of the film and the mythology at play. Maybe we’ll get even more of the horrific and nauseating rituals performed by the cult. The real question is whether or not audience members can withstand another half an hour or more of seeing what goes on inside Ari Aster’s head.

Ari Aster didn’t offer any details about his plans for the director’s cut of Midsommar like when or how we can see it. If he’s working on it now perhaps it will be included on the film’s eventual Blu-ray release. That would be great for horror fans that don’t want to spend 3+ hours in the theater and prefer to immerse themselves in the barbarity of Ari Aster’s daylight horror, from the comfort and safety of a darkened living room.

Midsommar is now playing. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of the biggest movies still to come this year.

Ari Aster’s Midsommar is a stomach-turning nightmare shot in the light of day. Aside from the jaw-dropping events that take place within the horror films runtime, audiences are also treated to some masterful cinematography as the young group of friends attend the summer festival. William Jackson Harper, who plays Josh, admits pulling off some of the more ambitious wide shot sequences were no easy feat to be part of. In his words:

As an audience member, it's easy to forget about all the time that needs to be filled between the director getting their vision where they want it on camera. And for the Good Place actor, there was a lot of admiring nature (and its creepy-crawlies) as he waited. He told Collider that while it was a taxing shoot, the finished product makes it all worth it.

One scene that seems like it was particularly intense and technical to shoot was when the villagers took turns picking up their forks one by one in line at the long table. It featured a birds-eye shot of the lunch ballet of sorts. Because the film is set in Sweden during its long summer days, it could only be shot at times when the sun was high in the sky.

The actor knew they were stepping into an ambitious project when they signed on for Midsommar. Jack Reynor, who plays the lousy boyfriend to Dani (Florence Pugh), he said he couldn’t see “a clear path” for how they could pull if off but that was exactly why he was interested in being a part of it. When the cast screened the film, they were so amazed and shocked by the end product that they just sat in silence for 10 minutes taking it in.

Midsommar came just one year after Ari Aster’s debut film Hereditary. William Jackson Harper had just auditioned for Midsommar when his breakout horror flick was released in theaters. It only heightened his hope to nab the role. He was attracted by the ‘unnerving” quality of the writer/director’s work.

The horror flick has sparked a lot of discussion for it’s crazy cult rituals and polarizing ending that is open to interpretation based on the viewers own perception on the subject matter. Between its blood and guts, “WTF-did-I-just-watch” storytelling and beautifully complex shots, Midsommar also contends with loss and relationship turmoil.

Have you seen Midsommar? It’s still in theaters to traumatize audiences!

Warning: Midsommar SPOILERS ahead!

Prior to the release of Midsommar, director Jordan Peele spoke about Ari Aster’s Hereditary follow-up having some of the “most atrociously disturbing imagery” he’d ever seen in a movie. Now that the film is out, he has been proven right because Midsommar is full of scenes that horrify and nauseate in equal measure. While it would be easy to assume this is all the work of a deranged mind, some of Midsommar’s stomach-turning scenes were actually inspired by real stories, as Ari Aster explained:

Well, that’s deeply unsettling. Midsommar is full of all kinds of strange and disturbing pagan rituals, and the film has lots of artwork in it depicting even more aberrant horrors. Ari Aster didn’t fashion all of this out of whole cloth though, and most of the stomach-turning scenes seen in Midsommar actually have some basis in either historical fact or folklore.

Some stuff was entirely his own invention, but others came from actual tradition to varying degrees that he then put his own spin on. Basically, humankind has been doing and thinking about doing some messed up things for quite some time, and Ari Aster just sampled some of its most grim and gruesome traditions and riffed on them.

Presumably some of these appalling traditions and folktales are what Ari Aster kept in the massive story bible he kept from his Midsommar cast. As far as specifics, the director told Letterboxd that the pubic hair from Isabelle Grill’s Maja in the food and the menstrual blood in the drink meant to ensnare Jack Reynor’s Christian, are tied to the research he did. So either in folklore or actual tradition, that comes from somewhere. Gross.

Although Ari Aster didn’t mention it when talking to Letterboxd, there is another disturbing image that is born out of folklore and possibly history. The character Simon, played by Archie Madekwe, is executed using the ritual known as Blood Eagle. Anyone who has watched History’s Vikings is familiar with this practice. A victim’s back is cut open and their ribs severed from the spine. The lungs are then pulled out to resemble a pair of wings.

Found in Skaldic poetry, there is a debate whether or not Blood Eagle was an actual historical practice or the work of imagination, but Ari Aster definitely got this one from existing stories. He did put his own spin on it though by suspending Simon to make his Blood Eagle fly.

In some ways this makes Midsommar even more horrifying. We can all imagine terrible things but we can often shrug them off in horror movies by remembering that it’s just a movie. But while the things in the movie aren’t actually happening to the actors, some of these stomach-churning things may have actually happened to some humans at some point in history.

It’d be fascinating to go through all of Midsommar and find out what was entirely Ari Aster’s idea and what was inspired by or came from reality. That would actually be a cool special feature on a Blu-ray, with scenes including little folklore backgrounds to see where Ari Aster got them.

If you would like to experience these stomach-churning scenes for yourself, Midsommar is now playing. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed to theaters the rest of this year and for more articles you wish you read on an empty stomach, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

Writer/director Ari Aster is quickly becoming one of the new names to watch in horror following his debut Hereditary last year. But Hereditary wasn’t out yet when actor Jack Reynor signed on to star in Aster’s follow-up Midsommar, so he was going in sight unseen with an unproven director. Combined with Midsommar’s wild horror script, Jack Reynor originally wasn’t sure that Ari Aster could pull it off, as he explained:

If you’ve seen Midsommar, you can imagine what this must have been like for Jack Reynor. He got a script from his agency for a horror movie that was so wild and unique and, as he calls it “ambitious,” that it was hard for him to wrap his head around it. It sounds like he doubted it could have been made period, much less with a director who only had a few shorts to his name at that point.

Jack Reynor’s outlook and optimism for Midsommar may have changed once he saw Hereditary and what Ari Aster was capable of, but he didn’t have that information when he had to make his decision to join the film.

As he told Entertainment Weekly, Jack Reynor simply didn’t see any way that the movie could work. But rather than a potentially unfilmable script and an unknown director deterring Jack Reynor, it actually compelled him to sign on to Midsommar. For him, the potential for failure was appealing because it meant that making Midsommar would be a challenge.

Jack Reynor had the philosophy JFK espoused in his famous 1962 “We choose to go to the moon” speech, signing on to Midsommar not because it would be easy, but because it would be hard. It’s an admirable thing to hear from the actor, that he doesn’t want to always take safe roles in films that will be guaranteed to succeed. He’d rather do something that seems like a recipe for disaster because of the challenge and the rewarding experience it will be if they actually pull it off.

Jack Reynor wasn’t just relying on Ari Aster to make his ambitious films work though, the actor also gave it his all. Jack Reynor actually advocated for his full-frontal scene in the film to add to his character and Midsommar’s messages. The whole experience sounds like it made Jack Reynor need a drink because the actor got immediately hammered after production.

Whether or not Ari Aster pulled off his ambitious film is for each person to judge. Midsommar made an unremarkable $10.9 million over the long Independence Day weekend but critics really took to the film to give it an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were less kind with a C+ CinemaScore, which is actually an improvement on Hereditary’s D+.

Midsommar is now playing. Ari Aster’s film isn’t the last of this summer’s horror films, check them and everything else out in our 2019 Release Schedule.

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for the ending of Midsommar! If you haven’t yet seen it, leave this place but come back when you have.

So about that ending to Midsommar? Talk about unforgettable… and open for interpretation. It’s the kind of finale you’ll sit in silence thinking about and mull over for days and then want to discuss. Christian’s fate is a brutal one. After being coerced into a disturbing sex ritual, he’s sown into a bear carcass and left in a temple to go up in flames with the rest of the human sacrifices of the summer festival.

Was it an act of revenge from his girlfriend Dani after he proved to be a lousy boyfriend throughout the film? The lead actress who plays her, Florence Pugh, would like to think she had reached a state of insanity by the end, and it’s how she chose to play the final scene. Here’s what she said:

So to Florence Pugh, Dani was in a state of ignorance as she watched the temple go up in flames, unaware her boyfriend of four years was going up with it. In the last scene, she goes through a range of emotions: laughing, crying, and then ending on a smug smile.

In the actress’ interpretation, Dani was in such a place of trauma regarding the murder/suicide of her family and then over her boyfriend cheating on her that she couldn’t truly see her loss unfold during the cultish ritual. When Florence Pugh saw the film, she said she found additional evidence that Dani had a psychotic break too.

Midsommar’s writer/director Ari Aster clashed with Florence Pugh on her comprehension of the ending. In the meticulous filmmaker’s words to USA Today:

Ari Aster was inspired to write the film after he himself dealt with a breakup, and therefore Midsommar’s themes lean in to how their relationship plays out by the end of the movie’s graphic horrors. So while questions of Dani's sanity at the end are valid, make no mistake, he wrote and directed it with it in mind that Dani has awareness of her boyfriend being burned alive in that temple and in that bear.

He also calls it a “sort of perverse, wish-fulfillment fantasy” and says this of the ending:

Per his comments, Midsommar could certainly be an allegory of the feelings one has directly at the end of a bad break-up such as hers. After the way he treated her and witnessing him with someone else, perhaps it’s cathartic to watch him burn in that moment. Later, when her intense feelings settle, she may regret his punishment.

No matter what Ari Aster intended, movies are personal experiences and will likely mean something a little different to each person after the credits roll. What do you think the ending means? Did you think Dani intentionally let Christian die? Sound off in the comments below!

“Traumatic” seems to be the best, and most frequently used, word to describe the experience that writer/director Ari Aster has invoked with his new film Midsommar. Not only has it gotten audience members riled up with its visceral brand of horror, but those involved in making the film seem to have walked away with their own sorts of scars.

Actor Jack Reynor can certainly attest to that, as apparently he had his own way of coping once production on the recent horror hit wrapped: a nice, long trip home, with plenty of alcohol involved. Reynor revealed that plan, in his own words, during a recent interview, in which he stated:

Playing the boyfriend of Florence Pugh’s protagonist Dani, Reynor’s Christian has been held up as a new standard of bad movie boyfriends. Bringing his girlfriend along for a vacation that looks idyllic on the surface, but ultimately becomes anything but, it certainly doesn’t sound like audiences will be siding with Midsommar’s male lead anytime soon.

That said, it’s not hard to identify with Jack Reynor’s statement above, which he gave to EW when promoting the film. Without any spoilers, Midsommar does feel like the sort of film that, when looking at it from the outside, has the potential to make anyone uncomfortable. A film that racks up an R rating for, among other things, “disturbing ritualistic violence and grisly images” already sets that expectation.

The cherry on top of the freaked out sundae is the fact that Ari Aster is good at taking typical horror tropes and turning them into slow burning, deep seated scares. Jack Reynor’s commitment to really going the extra mile, full frontal nudity and all, only makes the content more effective, but also leaves an actor with quite a grueling experience to recover from at the end.

Between the natural setting lending to a bit of the creepiness and discomfort to pieces of Midsommar’s shoot, it sounds like there was a lot of method acting going on between Reynor and his co-stars. So much so that once they’d actually watched the movie, they shared a prolonged silence for quite some time.

Reactions from the initial critical audience seemed to support the cast that yes, Midsommar is the movie that will haunt your dreams this summer. But perhaps the greatest badge of honor that the film can hold up for all to see is that Us director Jordan Peele called the film out for “the most atrociously disturbing imagery” he had ever seen.

The cast and crew of Midsommar sound like they went through hell and back to produce the film that’s currently enjoying its place as the most recent horror entry in a season that has a lot of genre pleasantries to offer. It wouldn’t be surprising to look back on summer 2019’s horror landscape, and see Midsommar sticking out as yet another joyful gem of disturbing, and ritualistic, violence; and we have Jack Reynor and the rest of the team that made the film to thank for it.

Let’s just hope that by time Jack got home, his hammered adventure complete, he didn’t forget anything important back at his point of origin. The human liver can only stand so much abuse.

Midsommar is currently in theaters, so please watch and drink responsibly.

There are so many depraved and outrageous things to discuss about Midsommar that we’ve mostly avoided one topic that always draws a crowd: lead character dick. Central actor Jack Reynor, who plays Christian, bares it all for an extended period of time in this year’s most complicated and disturbing horror movie, but apparently it wasn’t some tense or long-winded negotiation to get him to do it. In fact, he pushed director Ari Aster to go even harder and even longer on the full frontal shots (Hat Tip: Michael Scott).

His viewpoint came out earlier this week during a conversation with Variety, and within the context of the film, it makes a lot of sense. Midsommar goes hard in every way possible and cutting around his penis would have felt out of place given the film’s willingness to show everything else in graphic detail. Here’s the larger quote from Jack Reynor…

Midsommar isn’t the type of movie you just casually recommend to everyone you know. Lead actress Florence Pugh, who was overwhelmed the first time she saw the movie, later called it a "beautiful nightmare", and she's definitely not wrong. I’m a connoisseur of filth, and there were parts I had trouble sitting through. If you’re a fan of aggressive and uncompromising horror, however, Midsommar is absolutely something you need to experience. It’s just too weird and there’s too much going on to not talk about like, for example, the penis scene he’s referencing.

Warning: the following paragraphs contain some spoilers for Midsommar. I’m not going to blow-by-blow outline the entire film, but I am going to talk specifically about the scene in question which occurs later in the movie. So, if you haven’t seen it yet, stop what you’re doing, leave this tab open, drive to your local theater, see Midsommar, drive back home and then finish reading this article.

So, the scene in question, is basically a mating ritual. The lead character is drugged, disrobed by a bunch of naked women of various ages and then voluntold to have sex with a creepy girl who is, I guess, of legal age but behaves as if she’s much younger. Anyway, he has sex with her while these naked women chant. At one point, one of the old women even grabs his butt cheeks and helps him push. It’s a wild situation, and after he finishes, he escapes, fully naked, and wanders around the buildings, sometimes very aware and seemingly embarrassed by his nudity and sometimes so overwhelmed by the situation he doesn’t cover himself.

You can feel how lost and confused and overwhelmed he is. It really does feel like he’s had everything stripped away and taken from him, and given we had just been shown a half dozen or so fully naked women chanting, a PG-13 style cut with lots of butt shots would have been jarring and out of place. It also would have blunted some of the emotional intensity. In short, it was well handled by everyone involved.

Midsommar is currently out in theaters. If you feel like this movie is for you, then I strongly recommend it. If you feel like it’s too much, then I strongly recommend Spider-Man: Far From Home, which is also playing and contains both less ritualistic murder and less penis shots.

The horror genre is in the midst of a renaissance, dating back to James Wan's contributions with Insidious and The Conjuring. Rather than stale sequels, new terrifying works have been brought to theaters, thanks to minds like Jordan Peele and Ari Aster. The latter director got a ton of attention for last year's Heredity, which balanced horrifying imagery with character-driven family drama. Now all eyes are on what he'll do with his second feature film, Midsommar.

Midsommar has finally hit theaters, allowing moviegoers to witness Ari Aster's sophomore run in theaters. Early reception for the movie teased how truly unsettling Midsommar is, especially the sensory experience Aster utilizes. Actress Florence Pugh leads the cast as Dani, and recently described the new horror movie in colorful terms, saying:

Despite working on the film herself and knowing the various twists and turns Ari Aster has in store for audiences, it looks like Midsommar still packed a serious punch for its lead actress. It made Florence Pugh think and feel, so there's no telling what the experience is like for the average moviegoer.

Florence Pugh's comments to The Toronto Sun seem to vibe with what we've heard so far about Midsommar's affect on audiences. Early reception for the film was super positive, and the experience of watching the movie led early audiences to drop expletives on social media. And now it seems that extends to even the cast, who were privy to the plot twists and unnerving imagery ahead of the general public.

Related: Midsommar Star Opens Up About How 'Hard' Filming The Movie Was

Even Get Out and Us director Jordan Peele has spoken out about the truly unsettling experience of watching Midsommar. After seeing a cut of the film, the Oscar winning filmmaker was quoted saying:

Considering Jordan Peele's perspective on horror and success with his first two movies, his approval of Midsommar carries some weight. Of course, Ari Aster's work on Hereditary was also enough to get fans of the genre onboard for his latest contribution to the genre.

Hereditary was certainly a sensory experience, with moments that were both emotional and terrifying. Because within the story of possession was a family drama, which addressed grief in an honest way. Ari Aster brought out great performances with his cast, and Toni Colette's multiple snubs remain a point of contention for last year's Award Season.

Midsommar is in theaters now. Be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Ari Aster is still a young director, now only two movies into his career, but one thing that has already been made incredibly clear is that he is a very detail-oriented filmmaker. Both Hereditary and Midsommar are elegantly crafted features, and this extends not just to the cinematography and production design, but also storytelling. He creates a specific history for the worlds in his work, and it provides a special richness to the cinematic experience.

His work on Midsommar is a perfect example, as even though the film came together only about a year after the release of Hereditary, he still managed to put together a 100-page story bible that defined the rules of the story. This material not only detailed explicitly how he was going to make the movie, but also dug into the background for the isolated Swedish community that the central ensemble visits during their special seasonal festivities.

The catch, however, as I recently learned talking with the Midsommar cast, is that he never actually told his actors about it:

It was in my preparation for Midsommar interviews last month that I first learned about Ari Aster’s special story bible for the film… and I was surprised by the reaction I got when I brought it up during my sit down with William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, and Vilhelm Blomgren. While Poulter seemed to know what I was talking about, the whole thing was news to his co-stars, who apparently hadn’t previously heard about the director’s special world-building tome.

Interestingly, though, while the Midsommar stars didn’t know about the story bible, it didn’t surprise them in the least to learn that it existed. The level of detail demanded in Ari Aster’s approach was made very clear in the way that he ran things on set during production, so it wasn’t exactly a huge revelation to discover that he had written his whole plan down.

Offering tremendous applause to his director, Will Poulter explained,

Like Hereditary, Midsommar is a stunning work that treats every frame like a painting – and it’s wonderfully effective. The material engaging in its beauty, and then it smashes you over the head with images of true horror. It’s one hell of a thing to see, especially because it’s all happening in non-stop sunshine.

Based on an original screenplay by Ari Aster, the movie centers on Dani (Florence Pugh) – a young woman who experiences an extreme tragedy at the start of the story. Emotionally shaken by what has happened, she hopes that she can lean on her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Raynor), but he is basically at a point where he’s ready to break up with her. Because he can’t leave her under the circumstances, he instead brings her along with him on his summer trip to Sweden with his friends (William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, and Vilhelm Blomgren. But what awaits them in Europe is a truly an escalating series of unexpected horrors.

Midsommar is in theaters now – and after you see it be sure to come back to the site, as we have plenty of coverage coming your way about this ultra-trippy feature.

Approaching the public release of his second film, writer/director Ari Aster is not only looking to the future, but also reflecting on his recent past. Last summer delivered a smash hit to Aster, as his debut film Hereditary shocked audiences to the core, by dividing and exciting them at the box office.

While it may not seem like there’s a direct comparison between that film and his latest film, Midsommar, Ari Aster is keen to draw parallels between both films. In particular, he believes that the following material is what makes the two films so similar:

The differences between Midsommar and its predecessor are obviously most seen in the approach to those existential questions Ari Aster loves to ask. In Hereditary, we saw grief and tradition make life a living Hell for Toni Collette and her family, after the passing of her character’s mother opened up the film.

Midsommar’s inciting incident is a tragedy that befalls Florence Pugh’s Dani around the time that she and her boyfriend Christian, played by Jack Reynor, are going through a rough patch in their relationship. What starts as a surprise vacation that is meant to ease the pain fast turns into a world of suffering, as the pair and a group of Christian’s friends attend a Swedish ritual that gets stranger by the moment.

Some writers and directors, especially when starting out, will sometimes use the opportunity of telling similar stories through multiple projects as a way of finding their voice. However, seeing as Ari Aster confirmed to THR that he really doesn’t see himself as a “horror” director, that makes him uniquely qualified to make films like Midsommar that not only frightens and surprises audiences, but even actors auditioning for such projects.

When it comes to the horror masterminds in Hollywood, it always seems to come down to one of two types of directors. You’re either a William Friedkin type, who doesn’t aim to show the horror, but rather the grounded drama of a situation like The Exorcist, or you’re a Jordan Peele, who’s such a devoted fixture to the community that he wears his horror director badge proudly and deliberately.

In either case, the common thread is that the conviction of the work brings someone like Ari Aster to the conclusions and developments that make his films as effective as they are. Much like comparing the tones of Midsommar and Hereditary, both the similarities and the differences make such projects the successes that they are.

Midsommar brings its bright brand of horror to theaters in early showings tonight. If you’re not interested in scaring yourself with such horrific sights, we do suggest you head over to the 2019 release schedule, to see if anything else this summer has to offer jumps out at you!

This summer season is packed with superhero blockbusters, talking dolls (both friendly and horrific) and stunning musicals. Then comes Midsommar, a twisted ride through the bright summer days of Sweden where cultish nightmares await. Although Ari Aster’s follow-up to Hereditary promises a deeply unsettling time at the theaters, it may be one of the memorable experiences you have among a moviegoing audience for a long time.

So far, the word of mouth around Midsommar has already been wild. When it first screened, audiences were dropping f-bombs left and right about how … well… “fucked up” it is. The studio has made it a point to tease the film’s graphic violence beneath its scenes of highly-saturated ethereal images of blue skies and green pastures. Jordan Peele called it “atrociously disturbing” – detailing that he’d “experienced it with this open-mouthed, wild-eyed gape.”

But what makes Midsommar scary in its own right isn’t just its shock value. Writer/director Ari Aster has slashed the horror genre on its head and resurrected an even more terrifying beast… one we can identify with. This makes it even tougher not to squirm in our seats.The summer indie release reinvents the definition of psychological horror, as well as appeases fans of his debut 2018 effort.

We’re living in a world where the horror genre has started to resurrect itself back into high prominence, acclaim and conversation. However, much of the time, these kind of movies have been ghosts of the past – back to haunt the box office with their iconic names and whatnot.

For example, this summer’s other horror offerings include a Child’s Play remake, the Conjuring spinoff Annabelle Comes Home, and a sequel to IT, based on Stephen King’s novel. Each of these movies already lose a bit of frights because we’ve grown accustomed to what to expect from them, and they often play with a tried-and-true model.

That's not the case with Midsommar. The only thing horror fans have to go on this time around is the unique terror Ari Aster brought to Hereditary last year, and even that cannot prepare you for everything that goes down in the film. There’s something unique and rare about having an original horror premise these days, and it's a strange feeling to see the same director do it twice in a row. It’s the same feeling Jordan Peele gave us when Us had fans terrified and intrigued, following all the buzz around Get Out.

Audiences (especially horror fans) love being challenged and provoked – which is exactly what can be accomplished with an original premise. For Ari Aster, he takes it beyond original as well. Stylistically, the rule book is basically thrown out the window. Jump scares look real cheap after a film like Midsommar because he’s after much more intense notions from the genre.

With Midsommar, Ari Aster orchestrates this new definition of horror centered on simulating a tormenting experience for audiences that tests them. It goes to entirely different lengths to scare us in a way that has rarely been tackled by filmmakers. The film is ridden with anxiety and uneasiness, all created through precise filmmaking tied with emotion, point of view and building suspense.

For example, Ari Aster creates tension at first with a conversation between a couple, Dani and Christian (Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor), that is meant to show their conflicts with each other that’s amplified with its deafeningly silent atmosphere. When Dani suffers a tragedy that later has her tagging along Christain’s Sweden vacation with his friend, Aster manipulates sound through the actor’s grief to create its horrors.

Many films wouldn’t feel the need to keep in the audio for crying scenes as it’s likely deemed unnecessary, but Ari Aster has Florence Pugh project and intensify it as the audience has to sit with this space of pain and grief for lingering moments.

Similarly, when Dani is dealing with her sorrow throughout the film or any other emotion or action, the camera work is mirroring the emotion and shakiness on her as well. Much of horror concentrates on the terrors around the protagonists, and this one simulates it very much like we’ve felt it from Dani’s point of view.

Going back to Hereditary, there’s something especially intriguing about how the two films are both inherently opposite and complementary to each other. In Hereditary, Ari Aster went for painstaking darkness and scenes mostly confined and isolated to the family’s home. Midsommar is as bright as can be and is constantly seeking to create space through its wide shots.

Fans of Ari Aster’s breakout film will be interested to see the range in his work between what he delivers with these two films. Midsommar elevates Hereditary in some ways because it opens some familiar wounds that you remember. Both accomplish this feeling of utter dread throughout its runtime and feature grotesque sequences that run over and over in your head.

That beheading sequence in Hereditary is certainly overshadowed by how grisly Midsommar gets. The new entry is also weirder through its perverse sex scenes, ritualistic violence and such. It’s actually pretty funny too though, playing into its lightness at times. Both are about “cults,” but while it was something going on in the background in Hereditary, in Midsommar it’s at center stage.

So Midsommar ups the stakes higher than Hereditary did. While it’s certainly up for debate which movie is better, and there’s something to be said about Ari Aster not toning his visions down. He took more chances this time around. What this does is increase the fear and intrigue of fans because after seeing them both you won’t know the limit or the line he’ll draw.

Midsommar shouldn’t be missed because of how distinctive of an experience it is. The visuals are so specifically crafted to be memorable. Reliving the images after viewing it is almost like remembering a nightmare or a traumatic experience. After you see it, you might be frozen and speechless. You might be angered and confused. Either way, once you have a moment to process it you’ll want to discuss it.

It’s the kind of film no one person will have the same perception on. Its themes on loss and heartbreak are so visceral that you might just find yourself oddly relating to these horrors or feeling catharsis from it. It emulates the kind of moviegoing experience that is especially rare: it feels personal. Since when does horror do that kind of damage?

Have you seen Hereditary and Midsommar? What are your thoughts on Ari Aster's take on horror? Let us know in the comments below.

Ari Aster may only be two features deep into his directing career, but his skills have already left a significant impact on the industry. While Hereditary and Midsommar are completely different films, what they share in common are intricately-constructed and beautifully shot sequences that rattle the movie-goer brain. They’re stunning to see on the big screen, and were clearly a challenge to bring to life during production.

The style creates an interesting domino effect, as the more complicated a setup is, the more planning and preparation is required, and the more planning and preparation that is required means that the actors need to be all the more precise in their performances. It was something that I had the chance to discuss with Ari Aster and the Midsommar cast late last month, and you can watch our conversation below:

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Ari Aster, Jack Raynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, and Vilhelm Blomgren at the Los Angeles press day for Midsommar, and one question that I brought into both rooms was about how the detail-oriented nature of the filmmaking influenced the actors in their approach and performances. What I learned is that Aster’s style definitely had a unique effect, but in addition to being restrictive, it also had a certain freeing quality as well.

Discussing how he puts his movies together, Ari Aster explained that it is very early on that he gains a total vision of what he wants his films to look like, and that means coming to set each day with a set shot list and a plan to get everything that he needs. Part of it is admittedly about money, as he doesn’t want to waste resources on material that he doesn’t wind up using, but what’s more important is the fact he doesn’t fully trust himself as an improviser – particularly when on-set and simultaneously juggling 20 different problems. Said the filmmaker,

Working with a director who knows exactly what they want can be a blessing for an actor, as it makes it that much easier to trust in their vision for the totality of the project. There is also the risk that it can be creatively stifling, however, and that was a razor-thin line that was walked in the making of Midsommar. At the end of the day, though, the balance that was struck was one the performers could fully appreciate.

According to William Jackson Harper, not every single scene was treated with exactly the same level of intensity and detail – but what was common throughout the process was everybody working towards the same goal:

With his director sitting right next to him, Jack Raynor noted that Ari Aster’s particular approach was something to which the cast needed to adjust from the very first day, with the preparation for each scene being different than past projects. While in most cases the actors have the ability to move around and find what works for them personally, that wasn’t really in the plans for the making of Midsommar.

Raynor said that the making of the movie forced him to work outside his comfort zone, and made the actors prepare differently than they otherwise would, saying,

Interestingly, though, it was through this process that Jack Raynor did eventually find a special kind of way to contribute his own ideas to the mix. Specifically, each different take would give him the chance to try something new within the parameters of what Ari Aster needed for his vision:

What’s particularly funny, though, is that it seems not everybody was playing by the same rules. According to Vilhem Blomgren, the Swedish actors on set were apparently functioning with a bit more personal agency – which makes sense when you consider that Midsommar is meant to be a cinematic experience that that audiences into their world. Said Blomgren,

Midsommar is Ari Aster’s follow-up to the 2018 hit Hereditary, and centers on a young woman (Florence Pugh) who travels to Sweden with her boyfriend (Jack Raynor) and his friends (William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, and Vilhelm Blomgren) to experience a special festival that only happens every 90 years. Unfortunately, not only is she carrying a great deal of emotional baggage with her on the trip due to a recent tragedy, but the festivities aren’t at all what they are expecting.

The film arrives in theaters everywhere this Wednesday, July 3rd, and be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interview with the Midsommar writer/director and stars.

Since Ari Aster established himself as a uniquely ambitious director with Hereditary last summer, horror fans have been anxiously awaiting his next wild film, Midsommar. The movie promises cultish nightmares and graphic imagery, all during a gorgeous Swedish festival.

Jack Reynor, who plays boyfriend to Florence Pugh’s Dani in the upcoming release, has shared his first experience watching the film in New York with the cast… and he knew exactly what he was in for. In his words:

Here’s a fair warning! Be prepared to walk out of Midsommar in shock at the messed up thrill-ride you just witnessed. Jack Reynor and the rest of the cast -- including Will Poulter (We’re the Millers, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) and William Jackson Harper (The Good Place) -- found themselves sitting in silence after watching their film, perhaps in an attempt to process their own film? Reynor continued to EW:

There is something special about a movie having this kind of effect on an audience. Going out of a film in complete awe (trauma?) is a rare occurrence when so many releases these days are remakes, sequels, or reimaginings – even in horror where Child’s Play and It are hitting theaters this summer.

Jack Reynor and the cast are not alone in their reactions, as early screenings had people exclaiming a whole lot of “what the fuck” in response. Jordan Peele even weighed in to Midsommar by saying it has “some of the most atrociously disturbing imagery” he’d ever seen, along with calling it “the most idyllic horror film of all time."

The movie has been heavily praised by critics, as it has an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes with a little over 70 reviews filed (check out CinemaBlend’s 4.5 star acclaim). It follows the big buzz Hereditary received last year, many claiming Toni Collette was snubbed for a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Midsommar follows a young couple named Dani and Christian on the verge of a breakup who end up going on a trip to Sweden for a festival with a group of Christian’s friends. Their vacation goes sideways when the festival’s rituals soon get out of hand. Check it out in theaters on July 3.

Last summer, Ari Aster offered up an incredibly memorable directorial debut with the disturbing and critically-acclaimed Hereditary. But, if you think that even the horror drama’s most messed up moments can prepare you for what’s to come in his sophomore effort, Midsommar, think again.

The indie production company , A24, seems to know full well that the incredibly perverse stylings of Ari Aster is part of the hype surrounding his latest release. A24 has proudly shared Midsommar’s official R-rating and quite a few intimidating reasons why. Take a look:

It’s safe to say Midsommar is heavily leaning into its R rating, as it commits just about every offense in the book as it includes: “disturbing ritualistic violence, grisly images, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language”. The Twitter post makes it sound like the film was close to heading into NC-17 territory but the reached agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America is R - albeit a hard R.

Hereditary by comparison almost looks like a walk in the park. Here’s it’s reason for receiving an R-rating by the MPAA: horror violence, disturbing images, language, drug use and brief graphic nudity. Perhaps the two film’s polar opposite aesthetics. While many of Hereditary’s horrors lie in the film’s dark tones, Midsommar takes place at a summer Swedish festival, where the sun only sets for around two hours a day.

So get ready for ‘grisly images’ at full brightness! Get Out and Us filmmaker Jordan Peele was one of the first to review the film, saying it had one of the “most atrociously disturbing imagery” he’d ever seen on screen. He also highly praised the film, naming it “the most idyllic horror film of all time”. Check out what else Peele told Aster of his Midsommar accomplishment:

This is a rave Midsommar review from another horror mastermind! He’s not the only one. The film currently has a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with almost 50 reviews filed.

When the first audiences of Midsommar expressed their first reactions to the film, many could not help but offer up an R-rated response as well. Reactions included a TON of f-bombs of every variation with first reviews expressing the horror film with “what the fuck”, “gonna fuck y’all up” and “totally fucked”.

It may be the only word you can think of after witnessing Midsommar. The film starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter and Vilhelm Blomgran follows a group of friends at summer getaway gone awry, when rituals and celebrations blur the beautiful flower crowns and sunshine surrounding them. Midsommar hits theaters on July 3.

For as long as the horror genre has existed, it's told us to be afraid of the dark - that all corners of evil lie in the absence of light. Even applying simple logic to the matter, if many of cinema's most notable victims had simply been in the light of day they might have seen these terrors coming. This absolutism and assumption terminates with Ari Aster’s Midsommar, however. The brightness is turned up to 101 percent, all clichés are out the window, and it delivers one of the most unsettling experiences movie-going can offer.

What's particularly baffling about Midsommar is how it’s simultaneously a severely harrowing and exceedingly rewarding affair. Part of you hates it for what it puts you through and how it makes you feel: uneasiness escalating into queasy. But there’s also this stunning, ineffable, enduring quality about the experience it offers for an audience. Once you’ve survived and shaken off the initial “what the actual fuck” of it all, the remaining thought is that it’s an undeniable horror masterpiece.

It leaves scars. It’s disturbing images don’t flow in one ear and out; they pitch a tent in your brain and camp for the weekend…perhaps for a lifetime. Only time will tell. They bounce around in your head questing for answers and meaning. This is familiar sensation found within the processing of grief after the loss of a loved one, and it's a feeling to which Midsommar’s protagonist, Dani (Florence Pugh), is no stranger.

She’s deeply in love with and blindly dependent on her longtime boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor), but their relationship is on the verge of falling apart. Just as he is ready to break up with her, Dani is struck by tragedy, and he's instead forced to begrudgingly invite her along on his bro trip with his friends (William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, and Vilhelm Blomgren). Together they trek to a remote Swedish village during a very special midsummer festival with shocking celebrations and rituals.

There’s a lot of lore flurrying through Midsommar as it slowly builds this entire perverse fantasy world right in front of you, and not every idea lands (a second viewing could prove me wrong). It’s unkind to audiences at times, growing and maintaining a level of dread so intense you might glance at the closest exit. Commit to staying to the end, though, because it will pay off.

Once what’s been seen is taken in, there is such an incredible breadth of ideas to consider and ways to interpret what it all means. Aster decided to write it after facing a breakup and through this lens, wow, does he have some weighty commentary. And that’s just one of the many discussions that the movie will evoke.

Florence Pugh is a revelation as Dani and the absolute heartbeat to Midsommar. The 23-year-old, who just dazzled in Fighting With My Family, pulls off a performance as bafflingly good as Midsommar’s bonkers concept. We so effortlessly feel what is happening is real in her emotional journey, and we’re right along with her. In her fever dream/nightmarish/tripped out encounters, up until the final, feverish expression on her face, she’s magic.

She’s joined by a talented young ensemble including Sing Street’s Jack Reynor, We’re The Millers’ Will Poulter and The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper, who bring some welcome humor into the mix. Midsommar surprisingly works really great as a comedy in places – it’s laugh out loud hilarious at times in the cleverest of ways.

Following the dark and dreary aesthetics of Aster’s breakout hit from last year, Hereditary, the movie’s setting is also an excellent shock - full of beautiful summer landscapes and bright blue skies to behold. But don’t let the beautiful flower crowns fool you. Aster’s twisted visions are even more powerful here - fueled by cult-inspired nightmares and practical body horror. There is no darkness to hide the ugliness - only light to amplify it.

The majority of Hereditary was about the things you don’t see. Midsommar has this gutsy abandon of convention that takes it to next-next level, and Aster’s relentlessness makes him quite possibly the most excitingly horrifying and intriguing young writer/directors.

If you thought Hereditary had some memorably insane moments, you haven’t seen anything yet. Looking at them both, it truly feels like we’re witnessing the dawn of a phenomenal filmmaker. Midsommar is an anti-horror film in many ways that dangerously opens up a terrifying new definition of the genre, and it's a hard-to-watch delight.

READ MORE: The Best A24 Horror Movies

Among recent hits for horror amidst the genre’s continued renaissance is Ari Aster’s 2018 feature-film debut Hereditary. The unsettling flick centered on family tragedy will soon be followed up by Midsommar, a movie that visually brings the brightness way up as blue skies and blonde-haired women in bright white summer dresses and flower crowns frolic through a Swedish village. Don’t let the daylight fool you, Midsommar looks very much like an Aster film – just take a look at the new spine-chilling trailer:

Okay, so his looks terrifying. The new trailer from A24 gives us a bit of an idea of the film’s set up. Midsommar will follow Dani and Christian, a young couple played by Fighting With My Family’s Florence Pugh and Sing Street’s Jack Reynor who are close to breaking up. Following a personal struggle Dani is going through right before Christian’s planned bro trip with some friends to Sweden, he invites her along, much to their detest.

The group go on a week trip to a village in Sweden for a summer festival that’s described to have ceremonies and fun dress up… but it’s no Coachella.

The friends seem to have found themselves in some sort of ancient cult of sorts who reject Dani from leaving when she senses something off about the festival. It’s always daylight at the site, and they seem to witness some gruesome ceremonies during a once in a century ritual.

The trailer ends with some unnerving moments featuring the dissection of a bear, hints of violence, intense chanting and Dani standing up among the group as a voiceover says “I was most excited for you to come”. Will we witness a starling transformation from Dani (potentially reminiscent of the ending of Hereditary?) We’ll just have to wait and see.

Ari Aster has previously described Midsommar as “a breakup movie, in the same way that Heredity was a family tragedy”. So perhaps the film will explore the couple’s troubles through the lens of the filmmaker’s specific brand of terror. He has also called it “Wizard of Oz for perverts” so now I’m really confused about what to expect from this movie.

There’s something special about the marketing of Ari Aster’s films because it establishes tone and intrigue, but doesn’t give enough away for audiences to be able to distinguish the storyline they are in for. While Hereditary was almost exclusively made up of dark hues begging to be watched under dim lights (like a Game of Thrones episode), one scary aspect of Midsommar is how the events will take place exclusively in broad daylight.

Midsommar has an impressive cast led by Florence Pugh, who was recently cast alongside Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow. Will Poulter from We’re The Millers and Netflix’s Bandersnatch and William Jackson Harper, best known as Chidi in The Good Place also will be featured in the film. Midsommar hits theaters on July 3.

This Sunday is Mother's Day, and for many families that means children spending the day with their mom to celebrate the holiday. Perhaps that involves taking mom out to eat, doing some outdoor activity, or going to the movies - seeing something like Avengers: Infinity War, Breaking In, or Life of the Party. Unfortunately one movie that's not out yet is the new horror film Hereditary - but that's not stopping it from marking the occasion. The film is all about family, so it decided to send a special message to all the moms out there on this holiday. Just know that it's not exactly safe for work!

Well, that is sufficiently nightmarish. Nothing says Mother's Day like cutting the head off a dead bird and admitting how intensely creepy children can be. Seemingly taking a page out of Deadpool's book, this video sells the movie as something else, complete with frilly text and warm, upbeat piano music for about 10 seconds before taking a jarring and disturbing turn. I can definitely imagine someone who knew nothing about this movie ahead of time being thrown for a loop watching this. The ending to this trailer is also brilliant. I love that it goes from scary back to the innocent and flowery tone it began with just as Toni Collette's character admits something most parents would never dare utter aloud: that she didn't want to be a parent. This is oddly hilarious in its honesty, and practically gives you whiplash from the tonal shift. Seriously great stuff.

What works so well about this is that it isn't just any horror movie bending the marketing to fit the Mother's Day holiday; Hereditary is actually perfectly suited to a day about family and mothers and their children. As you can probably tell from this trailer, though, Hereditary deals with a family going through some serious stuff. The feature film debut of writer/director Ari Aster tells the story of the Graham clan, who, following the death of a grandmother, begin to discover frightening secrets about their ancestry as a terror takes over their household. The early reactions to this film out of the festival circuit tease a film that is genuinely terrifying and a brilliant new chapter in the ongoing horror renaissance.

Hereditary is one of those under-the-radar summer movies that are worth paying attention to, so hopefully this kind of fun marketing brings some more attention to it. The film stars Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro. Hereditary looks to pic up on the wonderfully horrific trend where A Quiet Place left off when it releases in theaters on June 8th. Check out everything else hitting theaters this year in our 2018 release guide. For all the latest movie news and why there's nothing more terrifying than family, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.