In case you're wondering what Ari Aster might be cooking up with "Scapegoat," um, well, more hints have come our way, and this seems to be very much in the same spiritual realm as "Eddington."
A casting call for "Scapegoat" has producers looking for actors to portray "Anti-ICE protestors," "Victims of ICE arrest," "ICE agents," and "Hispanic kids age 6-13 OK to portray victims arrested by ICE agents."
The casting calls are also looking for actors to play a "Histologist," a "Forensic technician in autopsy room," and "Medical nurse & doctor types."
No plot details have been officially confirmed, but the film reportedly follows a surgeon (Scarlett Johansson) whose career comes under scrutiny after a popular social media influencer dies during a routine operation. The influencer's grieving widow and brother (Jacob Elordi?) begin looking for answers, and the situation escalates as public outrage grows. Rumor has it that Aster's main characters are partly inspired by Erika Kirk and Logan Paul.
It's quite obvious at this point that Aster is most interested in the current moment: influencer culture, public grief turned into online outrage, immigration enforcement. And he's turning all of it into something deeply uncomfortable to watch.
"Scapegoat," which starts production in November, has a cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Jacob Elordi, Jude Law, Caleb Landry Jones, Ella Purnell, and Samba Schutte ("Pluribus"). Aster is directing from his own script and is once again teaming with A24, which has released all four of his previous films.
This will be Aster's fifth feature, following "Hereditary," "Midsommar," "Beau Is Afraid," and "Eddington." If the casting calls are any indication, he's doubling down on the approach he took with "Eddington," tackling the collective madness of a country at war with itself.
Who's "they," exactly? The Illuminati? The Deep State? Hard to say. The film premiered at Italy's Matera Film Festival on November 10. No reviews have trickled in yet.