Washington D.C. | July 30, 2025: Filmmaker Ari Aster, known for his distinctive horror films ‘Hereditary’ and ‘Midsommar’, recently shared a candid revelation about his father’s advice following the underwhelming box office performance of his 2023 film, ‘Beau Is Afraid’.
During an appearance on the ‘WTF with Marc Maron’ podcast, as reported by Variety, Aster disclosed, “When ‘Beau Is Afraid’ flopped, my dad did tell me, ‘Uh, maybe you shouldn’t write the next one. He might’ve been right.”
‘Beau Is Afraid’, a surrealist black comedy horror film, grossed approximately $12 million worldwide against a production budget of $35 million, resulting in a significant financial loss for distributor A24.
Despite his father’s suggestion, Aster proceeded to write his latest feature, ‘Eddington’, which is currently in theatres. A24 and Aster are now hoping for a stronger performance from this small-town dramedy, which boasts an ensemble cast including Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Luke Grimes, Austin Butler, and Emma Stone. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival before its recent theatrical release.
Aster admitted he was “pretty sad” about the poor critical and commercial reception of ‘Beau Is Afraid’. He acknowledged the lack of consensus among critics and the financial setback. “I was pretty sad that it was, like, so maligned. There are a lot of people who reached out to tell me that they loved it…that helped, but yeah, no, it was a bummer because it was a huge, you know, it lost money, and critically, I wouldn’t say it was, like, reviled, but it was definitely, like, there was no consensus whatsoever,” Aster explained.
He further reflected on the challenges of releasing a film and confronting audience reactions. “All these things you take away after you release a film, and you’re like, ‘OK, it’s out of my hands now, I can’t really avoid people’s reactions, responses.’ It’s like, you know, you kind of learn something…No matter what the response, you’re proud of for sticking with [your choice], and then certain things where you’re like, ‘Eh, I’m not sure if it was worth losing that much of the audience for that decision.’ I think I ejected a number of people from the theatre. I could’ve used them,” he mused, indicating a self-awareness regarding his film’s challenging nature for some viewers.
Ari Aster’s next directorial venture after ‘Eddington’ is yet to be officially announced, but his continued commitment to both writing and directing his projects remains evident.