It’s hard not to feel disappointment when looking at the commercial trajectory of Ari Aster’s post-“Midsommar” career. Say what you will about Aster’s last two films, “Eddington” and “Beau Is Afraid,” but they certainly swung for the fences.
Mixed reviews, an unenthusiastic moviegoing audience, and lengthy runtimes surely didn’t help. The big miracle here is that Aster somehow managed to convince A24 to finance these movies, and good for him. One thing we need more of is bold swings in American cinema.
In comments at a round table devoted to Rebecca Miller’s “Mr. Scorsese,” which apremiered this weekend at the New York Film Festival, Aster admitted feeling some type pf kinship with the maestro. “As somebody who has made a couple films that were divisive. It’s helpful to remember, oh, right, ‘The King of Comedy’ wasn’t well received. Like, what? ‘The Age of Innocence’ was disappointing? And even ‘New York, New York,’ to me is such a f-king exciting, playful, experimental, beautiful film. It’s so, so much more valuable than some perfect little trinket.”
Aster noted that his first two films (“Hereditary” and “Midsommar”) “were better received than my second two” (“Beau Is Afraid” and “Eddington”). “And I think part of why that is because I kind of didn’t like the reception of the first two somehow. Now, I really don’t like the reception the second two. There’s something really devastating when [the response] it’s not quite what you were hoping for.”
Aster once quipped that he couldn’t believe A24 was “stupid enough” to give him $35M to make “Beau Is Afraid.” They shelled out another $30M for “Eddington.” It also failed to ignite. Maybe that’s the end of that partnership.
Now the question remains whether Aster will be able to make his next film with such a budget. If “Eddington” couldn’t find an audience, what are the odds that its potential “spiritual sequel” would do any better? It’s the kind of project that screams “passion” over profit — catnip for cinephiles, poison for most investors.
Aster recently revealed that he’s also got a horror movie he’s interested in doing. There’s also a sci-fi adaptation that he’s thinking about. He added that he’s “trying to determine the right thing to do next.”
It’s hard not to root for him. In an era where so few filmmakers are allowed to play with real budgets and real ambition, Aster remains one of the few U.S. directors swinging for the fences. Say what you will about “Beau Is Afraid” and “Eddington” — they’re not safe. They’re not algorithm-friendly. They’re Ari Aster.
A24 reportedly took a $35M loss on “Beau Is Afraid.” The film divided audiences and critics alike — a sprawling, three-hour Oedipal panic attack with surrealism and no clear genre label. It was Aster at his most unhinged, for better or worse. “Eddington,” his latest, was a similarly tough sell: a neo-western, set during the COVID pandemic, that bombed at the box-office.
A24 gave Aster two blank checks. Neither paid off. And so the question becomes: does Aster still get to make the kind of films he wants to make? The film industry isn’t exactly in a generous mood these days. With studios slashing budgets and indie arms scaling back, someone like Aster could easily find himself squeezed out — or forced to compromise, which is something that has yet to happen in his career.