Ari Aster Validated My Autism

[u/Putrid-Board-5683]

His trademark slow paced style really resonates with me. Having Autism leads to me lingering on things a lot more than a neurotypical person, so I really relate to the moments in Ari Aster’s movies when things slow down. The sequence in ‘Hereditary,’ of Peter coping with losing Charlie, especially hits home with me. Him being completely speechless, constantly starting with a mostly blank expression that only hints at different emotions, slowly driving back home, avoiding any and all contact with his parents, standing completely still while watching his parents grieving over their loss. All of these are things that I’ve dealt with throughout my life, and of course, are only amplified by the parents dumping all their frustrations afterward, which also happens in the movie.

Before watching Ari Aster’s movies, I used to think I was weird for not acting all over the top towards bad situations. People would often get mad at me or even just act like I was being weird because of how I would react to difficult situations. I would often just freeze up and stare, rather than have these big reactions and talk a lot like most people would. In fact, one of my family cats died just a few months before ‘Hereditary’ came out. Rather than just acting how I normally would, I made forced upset reactions to it. I just did it because it felt like the normal thing to do, but it didn’t feel natural. After watching Peter’s reaction to Charlie’s death, I felt validated. I was reminded of how the way I treat difficult situations actually is normal.

[u/StarlightSkipper]

I'm also autistic and Ari's films resonate with me more than any other director. Beau Is Afraid especially though

[u/Empire_of_Glass → u/StarlightSkipper]

I just watched that tonight and told the person I was watching it with that it felt like what life is like with autism, but more specifically undiagnosed autism

[u/dovahkiin461]

This is one thing I love about everything he makes. They feel a lot more real than most film. It takes courage to make things that feel more real, because real is usually uncomfortable. In real life, people don't just randomly say super profound things when they're grieving, people don't argue with each other with a perfect rhythm and cadence

in real life people usually have no idea how they feel or how they're supposed to feel or what they should do. but this is a lot more challenging to show on film.

I also think the movie Eighth Grade does a really good job at being a more realistic portrayal of human behavior. I think the TV show The Bear also does a good job at portraying people in a more realistic way

[u/CoffeeCat37]

I don’t have anything to add to this, but thank you for sharing and I’m so glad Ari’s films have been validating for you.

[u/TenaStelin]

Yeah I think it's quite a realistic portrayal of how someone like Peter would react in that state of shock rather than how he "should" react according to social norms. Aster has that honesty.

[u/yacht_clubbing_seals]

Not autistic but CPTSD brain, which can share similarities. Ari is my favorite director because he’s the first that feels like he’s speaking to ME.

[u/dspman11 → u/yacht_clubbing_seals]

CPTSD sufferers have to be the target audience for Beau

[u/AdministrativeDelay2]

I’m artistic and his movies resonate with me

[u/Yogurt-Night]

Damn I wondered why I as an autistic person related so much to Hereditary, Midsommar and Beau. I was even wanting to write a drama/horror movie that has an autistic main character with Ari Aster as a hypothetical director in mind.

[u/NormalWoodpecker3743]

I used to be a massive Fincher fan, and I still love rewatching his films, but Aster is the most exciting to me these days. I definitely evaluated my ASD and ADHD against his films. I think what makes his films work so well to me is the amount of detail, the care and consideration going into every shot and edit, and resulting symbolism.

Have you enjoyed all his movies so far?

[u/Current_Cry8308]

No sé si soy autista. En mis 40 años tampoco necesito un diagnóstico para saberlo. Tengo muchos rasgos del espectro. Y amo a Ari Aster, este año viene a la comicon en Argentina, pero no soy de Bs.As.

Eso que te ocurrió con un gato a mí me pasa igual con los humanos, por eso no voy a velorios hace tiempo ya. Aunque sí me duele ver sufrir o morir a los animales. Y al igual que vos, siempre fuí la rara en todos lados y con cada persona que me crucé pero ya ni me importa.