Movies & TV / News

Director Ari Aster Comments on Criticism Of Hereditary and Midsommar Endings

July 5, 2019 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Midsommar

Air Aster’s Midsommar is now in theaters, and it has people talking plenty…particularly about the ending, which he spoke about in a new interview. Aster discussed the criticism of the endings of both Midsommar and his last film, the horror hit Hereditary, and the complaints that they go way over the top.

“I’m a big fan of melodrama,” Aster told Bloody-Disgusting, “and I grew up loving Douglas Sirk and just loving those traditions. The operative word being ‘melos,’ music, so drama as music. And so I guess you could see this as being pretty operatic. I’m treating it like an opera.”

He continued, “Which means I’m ending this film, and I guess I end Hereditary, on a crescendo. So I’m working with this ramp that’s moving up, up, up and hopefully you end at a ten. I know that there are a lot of people who have responded to both films, ‘I was with it until the end. The end of…was too much.’ And all I can say is I’m just doing what I want to see. I don’t feel like it’s unique to me at all. Most of my favorite films play in this space of allowing actors to kind of let her rip.”

Aster specifically addressed whether he thought the climax of Midsommar (no spoilers, worry not) went too far, saying, “In that scene, there’s not too much for me. I’m sure some people might argue that I went too far. For what I was looking for, Florence was hitting just the right buttons.”

The film is now in theaters. You can check out 411’s review of the movie here.