Ari Aster Movies Ranked

This article contains spoilers for all of Ari Aster’s movies.

What do we make of Ari Aster? Is he one of the most compelling filmmakers of our era? Or, as his detractors cry out on social media, a one-trick pony who got hot at the right time? (An interesting argument considering among his admirers is Martin Scorsese.)

After knocking audiences in the head with his feature debut Hereditary and then following it up with the mesmerizing Midsommar, Aster quickly established himself as one of the masters of so-called elevated horror, a double-edged title he shares alongside Robert Eggers and Jordan Peele. That opinion only solidified when people went back to watch Aster’s short films, including “The Strange Things About the Johnsons,” a movie somehow more humane and more upsetting than its plot summary suggests.

With his 2023 comic odyssey Beau Is Afraid, however, Aster shocked viewers by delivering a movie that some found hilarious, others terrifying, but most just annoying. The controversy surrounding Beau Is Afraid puts a lot of attention on Eddington, Aster’s latest outing. Eddington comes to theaters with mixed reviews already, as early critics cannot agree on the movie’s meaning or effectiveness.

While such division might irritate fans who want Aster to pick a lane, it does make for a more interesting career. With that in mind, we’re going to take stock and rank Aster’s four features thus far, setting up speculation where the director’s career will go from here on out.

4. Beau Is Afraid (2023)

Beau Is Afraid is about a man (Joaquin Phoenix0 whose personality has been crushed by his overbearing mother (Patti LuPone). Aster adds no depth or nuance to an archetypal dynamic which countless sitcoms have mined to the point of cliché. Beau, the movie, simply states its thesis about grown men with mommy issues and repeats it again and again, and again. There’s nothing inherently wrong with a lack of depth though. Everybody Loves Raymond didn’t become the world’s favorite sitcom by exploring the oedipal complexity of a mother/son relationship. The problem with Beau, rather, is that it makes its small point so loudly and relentlessly that the viewer cannot help but raise their hands and shout, “WE GET IT!”

At the risk of indulging a cliché of our own, Beau Is Afraid is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. Yet it’s not told by an idiot, and that’s a problem. Aster still constructs some incredible sequences, including a surreal forrest interlude. Moreover he gets great performances out of his cast. Joaquin Phoenix throws himself into lead as Beau, putting a comic turn on the raw nerves he played to great success in The Master and also in Joker. Parker Posey steals every scene (as usual) as the object of his affection, and Nathan Lane has a blast playing against type as a suburban dad in America’s heartland. It’s just that Beau Is Afraid achieves little more than a hack comedian saying, “Moms, amiright?”

3. Eddington (2025)

Eddington may be just as shallow as Beau Is Afraid, but it’s never as loud. In this case, it’s a problem, as Eddington too often plays like a Coen Brothers homage without a sense of humor. Right-wing sheriff Joe Cross (Phoenix) could follow Fargo‘s Jerry Lundegaard or No Country for Old Men‘s Llewelyn Moss in the line of bungled schemers. But Aster has none of the screwball stylings that allow the Coens to make morons compelling, and Eddington rarely manages to do more than acknowledge that political discourse got weird in the summer of 2020, which is when movie is set.

That is until Eddington takes a violent turn 90 minutes in. Once the camera snap focuses on a bullet hole and what’s on the other side, Aster resumes complete control of his movie. At that point, Cross becomes a compelling figure, suggesting a depth beneath his dopey exterior. Then Cross becomes as interesting as the movie’s two best characters, his troubled wife Louise (Emma Stone, deglamorized) and Black deputy Michael (Micheal Ward), an affable guy who becomes more bottled when others turn him into a political pawn. The shift in tone certainly elevates Eddington, but it also proves that Aster should stay far away from comedy and stick to horror.

2. Hereditary (2018)

Let’s get this straight: Heredatary could easily be number one on this list. Like Alien and Aliens or Godfather Part I and Part II, Aster’s first two movies are equally excellent. In fact, Hereditary only gets better the further we get from its release. This debut feature was preceded by a striking trailer that both defined A24‘s marketing style and gave no hint of the shocking death of 13-year-old Charlie (Milly Shapiro). Now that the buzz has died down, we can properly admire Hereditary for itself.

The story of an American family falling apart after the death of its matriarch, Hereditary could be classified alongside the many “trauma is the real horror” movies of its era. But Aster avoids such simple classifications by making a movie that’s both more and less than its metaphor. Yes, Hereditary is about the problems a family passes to the next generation, as demonstrated by the contentious relationship between mother Annie (a searing Toni Collette) and son Peter (Alex Wolff). But it’s also about devil worshiping cultists obsessed with decapitation.

The combination works because of Aster’s gift for impeccable mise en scene. So when, for example, movement in the corner of a static shot reveals a possessed family member, we’re both terrified because of the monstrosity and heartbroken to see what people who love each other can do to one another.

1. Midsommar (2019)

Where the discourse surrounding Hereditary obscured that film’s power, the ongoing debate about Midsommar‘s final shot only makes the movie richer. Is Dani (Florence Pugh) smiling at the end, glad to have found community within a Swedish cult and to let her crappy boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) burn alive? Or is she overcome with the realization that she can never escape death and despair?

To its credit, Midsommar provides no answer to that question, even after multiple rewatches. Even Pugh has disagreed with Aster’s interpretation when we chatted with her after release. In that way, we’re just like Dani, who is leveled in the movie’s snowy opening by the revelation that her sister has committed suicide and taken her parents with her. Dani joins Christian’s guys’ trip to Sweden, but the brighter environ provides no relief from the specter of death.

The horror of Midsommar comes from the way that Dani does find relief in the violent practices of the cult that hosts them. She may look away when a head gets smashed or Christian gets involved in a sexual rite. But she also gains a sense of control over death, albeit fleetingly so. Aster doesn’t tell us how to feel about Dani’s acceptance into the cult, letting the viewer wrestle with the idea that maybe their brutal ways reveal something about death that we moderns have forgotten.

Eddington is now playing in theaters.