Ari Aster’s latest flick, “Beau Is Afraid,” is just a couple of months away from hitting cinemas all around the world, and the internet can’t seem to cease talking about it. In the meantime, here are a few movies to watch while you wait for “Beau is Afraid.”
The Platform By Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia (2019)
The inmates that we see in this movie are housed in tiers of a towering penitentiary, where food supplies increase with the elevation, very much like our own social structure. However, if folks lose their economic and societal standing, they will physically murder one another just to fill their own bellies. The movie is an extreme example of human degradation, stunning in its violence and graphic. We don’t contribute to or serve the community because we’re too busy looking out for ourselves. This Spanish movie demonstrates this point without equivocation. But just when you think there’s no use in holding out faith for mankind anymore, the picture will show you otherwise. However, you’ll have to sift through the hellish depths themselves to get there.
Mogul Mowgli By Bassam Tariq (2020)
The unconventional piece by Bassam Tariq and Riz Ahmed explores themes of family history, personal development, and the need for reconciliation. Zed, the character played by Ahmed, is an aspiring musician who struggles to discover himself as the son of immigrants in the United Kingdom. The narrative takes an unexpected turn when he’s struck with a debilitating muscular ailment that threatens to take away everything he’s fought for. Zed’s psychological and physical torment is all too relatable. Nonetheless, the filmmaker’s presentation of them is eerie, unsettling, and bizarre. Zed’s every choice is weighed down by these forays into the mind’s subconscious. As a musician and a human, he doubts his own worth. As always, Ahmed gives it his all onstage and demonstrates his true worth. He had a hand in writing the screenplay, so you know it matters a lot to him.
In The Tall Grass By Vincenzo Natali (2019)
Inspired by the best-selling book of Stephen King, “In the Tall Grass” tells the story of a family that responds to a distressed cry from deep inside a meadow of tall grass. After going through it, they discover that they are in a never-ending loop of space and time. This Vincenzo Natali picture is a horribly bending dissertation on inevitability, dread, and madness, with a story that hinges on a nifty conceit and turns that would put Sam Raimi to shame. The film’s captivating imagery is expertly paired with destructive human interactions, heightening a stifling foreboding that ultimately leads to hopelessness. Don’t be so weighed down by gloom that you miss the film’s stunning visuals.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer By Yorgos Lanthimos (2017)
Yorgos Lanthimos has now become a household name in the psychological-horror genre, and his 2017 masterpiece, starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, stays true to that acknowledgment. The movie is a thoughtful and well-written analysis of right and wrong in a post-factual world where no one wishes to acknowledge culpability. One aspect of this picture that stands out is the manner in which Yorgos guides his characters, evoking the kind of dispassionate coldness characteristic of the masterpieces of Jean Rollin and Georges Franju that is superb, eerie, and frightening.
Midsommar By Ari Aster (2019)
This Ari Aster movie is one of its kind and is hailed as one of the best psychological thrillers ever written. “Midsommar” is essentially a movie about overcoming one’s own personal nightmares and anguish. This movie is both a historical excursion and a horror picture due to its focus on occult rites and its use of psychedelics. The film’s protagonist is haunted by her past. It’s no exaggeration to say that “Midsommar” is a terrifying movie. Although there is some frightening content, I was riveted throughout the whole film. Everything about this film, from its nightmarish start to the luscious colors of the Swedish landscape, its superb filmmaking, and its wonderful soundtrack, poured into me and left me awed. I won’t spoil the movie for you, but toward the climax, all her suffering is washed away; all the poison in her heart is eliminated, but at a price, of course. “Midsommar” is otherworldly; it went beyond the realm of the movie and evolved into something else.
Hereditary By Ari Aster (2018)
What’s the definition of a good horror movie? Should it contain scary and frightening creatures with sharp claws and teeth or an invisible antagonist hunting people one by one? Well, none of that, actually; a Good horror puts the viewer in the same mental state as the protagonist and likewise causes the audience to question their own sanity alongside the protagonists. Ari Aster has mastered this craft, and his 2019 masterpiece proves it. Unlike most modern horror flicks, “Hereditary” somehow doesn’t try to appeal to a specific audience or rely on the traditional “evil around the corner” approach. Rather, it is very well-written, follows a clever cadence, and avoids talking down to its viewers without resorting to cliches or tired plot gimmicks. The movie follows the story of Annie Graham and her family, whose happy and joyous lives are shot into turmoil after the terrible secrets of her ancestor begin to unravel.
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