Check out these 3 horror shorts from Hereditary and Midsommar director Ari Aster

Before Hereditary and Midsommar, horror wunderkind Ari Aster directed a series of disturbing short films. Many of the preoccupations of his feature films are present in these dark family dramas: twisted family drama, paranoia and horror lurking within middle class banality.

Already Aster had developed his meticulous, clinical brand of cinematoography and keen ear for subtly unnerving music. Already he was developing a brand of horror with a bedrock in fraught familial relationships and recognisable human fears, mining a seam in the genre that runs from Rosemary's Baby and Don't Look Now to The Babadook and The Witch.

Aster's short film work ranges from the cheerfully lo-fi Beau (which he filmed in just one day) and his current collaborations with Hollywood stars for his Portraits series – a collection of Scorsese-like monologues focusing on morally iffy characters and social injustices.

One of these monologues, C'est la Vie, provides the key to Aster's take on the horror genre. Our homeless protagonist, who may be delusional and/or a serial killer, reflects on his situation in the final scene. "You know what Freud says about the nature of horror? It’s when the home becomes unhomelike. Unheimlich."

That's as good a summary as you're going to get as to why Hereditary is so disturbing, as well as a nice parallel to the iconic "does he feel like home to you?" scene from Midsommar. Here are three of Aster's short films which shed further light on his feature films.

The Strange Thing About the Johnsons (2011)

What's it about? Aster's most controversial short – the story of a picture perfect family where the son is sexually abusing his father. And you thought Toni Collette's brood was messed up...

What's the story behind it? Aster and his friend Brandon Greenhouse (who plays Isiah in the short) were bouncing around ideas about "taboos that weren't even taboos because they are so unfathomable" (via IndieWire). Eventually they arrived at this reversal of typical father-son abuse stories.

"In a lot ways the film serves as a nightmarish cautionary tale on liberal parenting," Aster says. "A sort of worst-case scenario for a father who’s granted his son too much freedom and respect."

It's a seriously messed up film which some viewers have struggled to stomach:

the strange thing about the johnsons gave me ptsd

— b rock (@yungtoliet) August 7, 2018

I've still never fully recovered from The Strange Thing About The Johnsons

— imari (@Mari2Buttah) August 6, 2018

What does it tell us about Hereditary and Midsommar? The fear of a threat from within the family characterises much of Aster's early work. In this short, the mother (Angela Bullock) takes on the passive role of Gabriel Byrne in Hereditary – she knows about her son's monstrous actions, but doesn't do anything about it until it's too late.

Also listen to that low thrumming score, which has a lot in common with parts of the unbearably tense music in Hereditary. Plus there's an ironic distance (which some viewers might find a little distasteful given the subject matter) and a very dark sense of humour which Aster would lean hard into in Midsommar.

Look out for the rape scene in the bath. Not only is the shot of Sidney (Billy Mayo) before the attack a not-so-subtle reference to Psycho, but you can hear Sidney's motivational audio book continue to play after the rape, criticising "people who think horrible things might happen to them". Ouch!

Watch it here:

Munchausen (2013)

What's it about: A mother can't bear the thought of her son going to college, so decides to poison him instead. 

What's the story behind it? This one's a Vice short, Aster's attempt to create a live action version of a wordless Pixar montage scene. It's creepily similar to Pixar's short Bao which played before The Incredibles 2 – except it's less acceptable to kill your son when he's not a metaphorical dumpling boy.

What does it tell us about Hereditary and Midsommar? This one's all about overly-perfect, artificial camera work. Its colour palate might bring to mind the sunwashed visuals of Midsommar. If Hereditary looked like it was all shot in a doll's house, this one looks like it's torn straight from a kids' movies. Which makes the brutal ending all the more cruel.

It also shares a sick sense of humour with The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, just look at the bottle Bonnie Bedelia's character uses to poison her son with!

Hereditary and Midsommar are ultimately studies in bereavement, and despite only being six minutes long, the funeral scene in Munchausen also packs a punch. Make sure you have some tissues on hand.

Watch it here:

Beau (2011)

What's it about? Billy Mayo comes back for more after The Strange Thing About the Johnsons. This time he's a fastidious loner whose keys are stolen, leading him to believe that he's set to be murdered in his sleep. Poor Billy, he just can't catch a break, can he?

What's the story behind it? Aster shot this one in a single day, so it's noticeably more rough and ready than his other shorts. It's also perhaps the most obviously dreamlike and is the most liberal in it's use of horror tropes. Think of it as a home invasion thriller fuelled by paranoia rather than an actual threat.

What does it tell us about Hereditary and Midsommar? With a runtime of just six minutes, it's impressive how baffling the plot is. As with the feature films, there are various seemingly obscure hints as to what's really going on (the possum sighting, Mayo writing "possum" over and over again on his crossword, the hairy hands at the end of the film). It doesn't really make sense, and we're not entirely sure it's meant to.

Watch out in the credits for a character listed as Kolgaan, Collector of Keys. Do you think he and Paemon might hang out sometimes?

Watch it here:

To watch more of Ari Aster's short films, visit his website here.

Want to check out more stylised horrors that are similar to Hereditary? We recommend three of them here.

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