From Midsommer to Hereditary, nobody can deny that Ari Aster‘s movies are weird. But the acclaimed horror movie director admitted in a new interview that he thinks people might’ve misunderstood one of the more bizarre scenes in his 2019 movie, Midsommar.
Not the one where Dani watched her horrible boyfriend get shoved inside a bear carcass and get burnt alive — that one was pretty straightforward and, honestly, good for her. What he’s referring to is the scene in the A24 movie where she finds out her horrible boyfriend is having some kind of ritual sex while other members of the cult watch and imitate the noises that are made.
Speaking to the New York Times, Aster pointed out that in many ways, Midsommar can be considered a comedy movie. “It’s working toward a punchline,” he explained. “I remember reading a couple of reviews where people were like, the sex scene is unintentionally funny. I got very defensive. That was supposed to be funny.” Florence Pugh, who played Dani in Midsommar, added that Aster is “a stand-up comedian at heart.”
“Once you laugh at one thing, he will try and make you laugh at all the other things,” she said. “He’ll keep going and everybody will be crying in fits of laughter.” Still, whether you laughed or not at Midsommar, it was still one of the year’s best movies. For more films that are funny, scary, or both, check out our guide to all the new movies coming to theatres this year.