If you’re familiar with Ari Aster—director of Hereditary, Midsommar, and the new Beau Is Afraid—you probably know that he’s the kind of filmmaker who’s not afraid of the unexpected. At any point during an Aster film, you might be treated to a sudden decapitation or panic-attack-inducing ritual suicide. Naturally, this has made his work divisive among moviegoers. Whether you think those heart-stopping shocks are effective or manipulative is another thing altogether. If there’s one thing viewers can agree on, it’s that you’ve got to keep your wits about you, when you’re around this little scamp.
That said, it’s no surprise that Aster’s penchant for quirky horror dramedies has attracted him an equally eccentric following. Audiences have rushed to the theater to see his two previous films, cultivating a staggering word-of-mouth appeal that keeps extending their shelf life exponentially—a pretty rare feat in a streaming-heavy landscape. Twitter users still randomly ponder if Aster has a therapist, despite his last work of offbeat terror being nearly four years old.
But at Monday’s Los Angeles premiere of Beau Is Afraid, which hits theaters April 14, it was clear just how much Aster’s movies have captivated a roster of celebs as dynamic as the films themselves. Several seasoned pop divas, young Hollywood ingenues, former porn actors, and even babygirls graced the gold carpet. Who would’ve thought that a three-hour film about a repressed man working through his mommy issues would attract such a diverse set of names?
On second thought, maybe that premise makes perfect sense for this group. Siren-voiced singer Caroline Polachek walked the carpet in a tank top emblazoned with the words “indie darling”—in all lowercase text, naturally. You can’t be an indie darling if you’re using caps lock! Joining her were all three members of the band Boygenius (whose band name, again, is typically stylized in all lowercase): Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, and Lucy Dacus.
Some critics (aka, your faithful writer) might think that the presence of the alt-pop girls at the premiere could be read as a commentary on how Aster’s films have transformed him from something of an indie darling himself into a pseudo-God of mainstream horror in the public eye. And he’s one who doesn’t yet have more than one really good movie to back that up, at that. More likely, these girlies were just in it for the free refreshments.
After all, it wasn’t just the arthouse rockers in attendance. Joining them for bottomless popcorn and soft drinks were legacy pop veterans, too. Kesha stomped the step-and-repeat incognito, in round sunglasses and a chic leather jacket. Perhaps the most jaw-dropping of divas to account for was the legendary Mariah Carey, who towered over Aster in black wedge pumps.
If you can get past the initial shock, there is a reason for Mimi to emerge from her crystalline cave filled with champagne to bless the public with her appearance. Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” has a needle drop in the film, during an unforgettable sex scene between stars Joaquin Phoenix and Parker Posey. You know, typical Ari Aster stuff.
Because Beau Is Afraid is the third of Aster’s successful collaboration with A24, the cult-favorite production company’s favorites also dropped by. Shiva Baby’s Rachel Sennott looked less than thrilled to don a cap embroidered with a logo from a fictional company that appears in the film. Euphoria star Chloe Cherry also posed on the carpet, while X star Jenna Ortega hung out inside.
Aster’s films are even known to attract a collection of internet boyfriends. Once you’ve seen the photos of Noah Centineo at Midsommar’s premiere in 2019, his poses (that somehow manage to reflect the experience of watching the film) will be forever burned into your brain. This time around, the boyfriend present was Pedro Pascal, fresh off of becoming Twitter’s new favorite dad in The Last of Us; he brought the viral sensation-vibe to the premiere. Hear that? It’s the sound of thousands of social media users cracking their knuckles, preparing to declare Beau as the latest babygirl-coded boy.
With a guest list as varied as it was unanticipated, it’s uniformly clear: Ari Aster has officially broken into the mainstream. Aster’s films are no longer modest creations that creep up on you or get recommended by a friend of a friend—they’re full-fledged events, attracting all types of viewers. With only three feature films under his belt, Aster has harnessed our masochistic craving for original horror and turned it into a factory line that packages idiosyncratic dread.
Now that we have an idea of what to expect from Aster’s movies, the real unprecedented events have become his premieres. The only question is: Who could possibly appear on the red carpet for feature number four? I’m calling it now: Prepare to see Oprah rubbing elbows with Nick Cannon and Lindsay Lohan.
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