History Creator / AriAster

For the next few years, Aster would make a name for himself with a series of controversial and provocative short films, the most popular being ''Film/TheStrangeThingAboutTheJohnsons'', that would eventually attract the attention of independent entertainment company Creator/{{A24}}. The company has distributed all of his features thus far, with his first two (''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' and ''Film/{{Midsommar}}'') going on to become some of their biggest commercial successes, and his third (''Film/BeauIsAfraid'') being their most expensive film at the time with a budget of $35 million.[[note]]For perspective, ''Hereditary'' was made for $10 million, and ''Midsommar'' for $9 million.[[/note]]

For the next few years, he would make a name for himself with a series of controversial and provocative short films, the most popular being ''Film/TheStrangeThingAboutTheJohnsons'', that would eventually attract the attention of independent entertainment company Creator/{{A24}}. His first two features, ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' and ''Film/{{Midsommar}}'', were both distributed through [=A24=] and went on to become some of their biggest commercial successes.

Aster's third film is another [=A24=] collaboration, a horror comedy titled ''Film/BeauIsAfraid'' and starring Creator/JoaquinPhoenix. The film is [=A24=]'s most expensive yet, with a budget of $35 million[[note]]For perspective, ''Hereditary'' was made for $10 million, and ''Midsommar'' for $9 million[[/note]], and Aster went on record comparing it to a "a Jewish ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]''" and summarizing it as what would happen "if you pumped a 10-year-old full of Zoloft, and [had] him get your groceries". The film was released on April 21, 2023.

* GagPenis: Abnormalities involving male genitalia as a form of humor (and horror) is included in some of his movies, like in the shorts ''TDF Really Works'' and ''The Turtle's Head'' or in the feature "Beau is Afraid".

* EvilMatriarch: A recurrimg trope in his feature films so far, with Ellen in ''Hereditary'' and Mona in ''Beau is Afraid'' being straight examples, while ''Midsommar'' can be considered a [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain journey]] into this for Dani.

** Both of his features have a character being burned alive.

*** [[FacialHorror Extreme violence against people's faces]], usually with a subsequent GrossUpCloseUp of what's left.

* DownerEnding: Many of his films end this way, the most prominent being ''Hereditary'', ''Midsommar'', and ''The Strange Thing About the Johnsons''.
* DysfunctionalFamily: Pretty common in his films such as with ''Strange Thing About the Johnsons'' and ''Hereditary''.
* FacialHorror: Head trauma has been at the center of the most disturbing parts of his features; according to public statements, multiple unreleased scripts of his also involve it in some way.

Aster's third film is another [=A24=] collaboration, a horror comedy titled ''Film/BeauIsAfraid'' and starring Creator/JoaquinPhoenix. The film is [=A24=]'s most expensive yet, with a budget of $35 million[[note]]For perspective, ''Hereditary'' was made for $10 million, and ''Midsommar'' for $9 million[[/note]], and Aster went on record comparing it to a "a Jewish ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]''" and what would happen "if you pumped a 10-year-old full of Zoloft, and [had] him get your groceries". The film was released on April 21, 2023.