Bong Joon-Ho Loves Ari Aster's ‘Hereditary' and ‘Midsommar'

A24 got into the literature business last year by releasing a book that included the screenplays for Alex Garland’s “Ex Machina,” Robert Eggers’ “The Witch,” and Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight.” Now, a new A24 Book release, the fourth edition, arrived today and it’s all about Ari Aster’s “Hereditary,” which is now available for purchase on the studio’s website.

The 240-page “Hereditary” book includes a foreword written by “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho

He’s facing forward in the driver seat, completely frozen. He can’t bear to look back. In the backseat is his sister Charlie’s BODY, covered in thick, tar-like blood. Only the body. No head. If he looks up ever so slightly, he will be able to see her through the rearview mirror.  So he can’t even move his eyes. Eventually, he gets out of the car without looking at all. Once dawn breaks, he will hear his mother’s scream.Even more terrifying than the decapitated girl in the backseat is the fact that we, as an audience, may have — subconsciously — hoped for Charlie’s death. Of course this is not the film’s ‘official’ stance — to root for a child’s death. But when Charlie makes annoying sounds with her tongue, or when she cuts the head off a dead pigeon, the movie is undoubtedly sending signals that fill us with sinister thoughts.While the film is an impeccable work of genre in which occult elements are cleverly, tightly woven together, I wonder if genre is just a cover for the real horror. Because the true horror comes from the family itself. One of the most terrifying scenes in the film is the dimly lit dinner scene, which has no occult elements and relies solely on Toni Collette’s explosive performance. The film is ostensibly about the hell that a family suffers as generation after generation is swallowed by a demon, but it’s actually saying that family itself (or ties defined by blood) is hell.

After becoming an overnight sensation by winning the Palme D’Or and the Best Picture Oscar for “Parasite,” director Bong Joon-ho was interviewed by Sight & Sound late last year and asked to recommend up-and-coming filmmakers that he believes were going to shape and mold cinema in the decade to come. No surprise, Aster’s name figured prominently on the list, coming in at the #2 spot.

Bong has praised Aster numerous times these past few years, also having very kind words to say about Aster’s second film as a director, last year’s “Midsommar.” In an interview with IndieWire the South Korean director called the “daylight” horror movie “one of the year’s best” and continued on by saying “I met Ari Aster once in New York. He’s a unique guy. I love his talent.”

Bong named other familiar names such as Robert Eggers (“The Witch” and “The Lighthouse”), Jennifer Kent (“Babadook” and “The Nightingale”), Jordan Peele (“Get Out” and “Us”), and Chloé Zhao (“The Rider”), but also less familiar names such as Ali Abbasi (“Border”), Bi Gan (“Long Day’s Journey Into Night”), Rose Glass (“Saint Maud”), Alice Rohrwacher (“Happy as Lazzaro”), and Francis Lee (“God’s Own Country”).