8 Great Short Films From Midsommar Director Ari Aster

Content Warning: This article discusses themes of sexual and psychological abuse.

Ari Aster is known for bringing two gems of modern horror to life: Hereditary and Midsommar. But before he stepped onto the horror scene with these two films, Aster produced quite a few acclaimed short films that have all the trademarks of his fresh and daring style.

Although they fall into a range of genres, Ari Aster’s eight shorts all feature some of the director’s recognizable characteristics. From sickening tales of abuse to comical stories told by compelling characters, Ari Aster’s short films deserve to be in the line-up for the world-famous talent’s best works.

C’est La Vie (2016)

C’est La Vie is an Ari Aster short film from 2016. It follows a frustrated homeless man as he wanders around Los Angeles, ranting directly to the viewer about everything that is wrong in the world.

The style of this short puts the audience directly into the narrative. Alongside stark imagery, crisp cuts between scenes, and smoothly flowing dialogue, the film also packs a good bout of humor. This is certainly characteristic of Ari Aster’s work, and it is one of the reasons that Midsommar is even better than Hereditary.

The Turtle’s Head (2014)

Ari Aster’s 2014 short, The Turtle’s Head, tells the story of a creepy old detective who desperately seeks out answers when his penis starts to drastically shrink.

This film is the right amount of weird, funny, and disturbing. The end of the film includes his penis retracting inside of his body, punctuated with the half-hilarious-half-chilling line from Gina, “It’s inside.” The cast also features Jim O’Heir as a doctor, who is known for all of the mistakes that he makes in the role of Jerry on Parks and Rec.

TDF Really Works (2011)

Ari Aster’s 2011 short film, TDF Really Works, is a commercial for a product called “Tino’s Dick Fart.” The film even features Ari Aster himself as a lead actor.

This is the director’s shortest film, and it certainly feels like it comes out of left field. The bizarre short tells the audience how to use this funky product in a way that implies plenty of body horror. Cutaways to strange illustrations keep the work bright and engaging, just as the rest of Aster’s filmography.

Basically (2014)

In Basically, a sharp and outgoing young woman tells the audience about her day-to-day life as an affluent and fortunate actress who has much more to complain about than she should.

Basically assumes a style that is very characteristic of Ari Aster, in which the protagonist speaks directly to the viewer. The comedy is sharp and a little dark. For example, the short features the actress’ thankful retelling of the time that a skydiver’s shoot did not open and he fell through their greenhouse roof, only to have his skin eaten by poisonous plants that she did not know were growing there.

Munchausen (2013)

Munchausen is a silent short film that features a mother who is unable to part with her son when he is meant to go off to college. As a result, she makes him sick.

Despite the beautiful color palette and sweet coming-of-age montage that the film begins with, the short film follows a very dark story. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a devastating mental disorder and watching this severe case play out is disturbing, no matter how beautiful the accompanying score is. Ironically, the film ends with the boy dying at her hands, meaning that his mother will now be apart from him forever.

Beau (2011)

Beau tells the tale of a man who is attempting to visit his mother. Starting with missing keys, Beau begins to undergo a series of disturbing events that may just stem from the ouija board that he uses inside the house.

Ari Aster plans to make Beau into a “four-hour nightmare comedy” with a script that is said to be one of the wildest things to come from the writer-director. Given the unsettling yet absurd imagery in the short, it seems like Aster has hit the nail on the head with this characterization of the plot.

The Strange Thing About The Johnsons (2011)

As a film student in 2011, Ari Aster created The Strange Thing About The Johnsons. The dark short follows a family in which the son, Isaiah, sexually abuses his own father, Sidney.

The Strange Thing About The Johnsons is twisted and shocking in the same way as the deaths in Midsommar are. The incestual abuse in the short is sickening and heartbreaking, forcing audiences to come face to face with the hidden horrors of life in the suburbs.

Herman’s Cure-All Tonic (2008)

In Herman’s Cure-All Tonic, Harold works the counter at his father’s pharmacy, selling his father’s formula for “Herman’s Cure-All Tonic.”

This short film features far too many green and gooey bodily fluids to be hailed as anything but nauseating, and the fact that it looks like it comes right out of a renowned body horror movie is quite possibly the best part about it. Beyond the imagery, the tone of the film is downright unsettling, fitting perfectly into Aster’s body of work.

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