'Midsommar' director Ari Aster considers his latest film to be a "dark comedy".
Ari Aster
The American filmmaker has been terrifying audiences with his new horror movie, which stars Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as a couple on the brink of splitting who attend a midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village where events take a disturbing course.
However, Ari believes his story is actually a "perverse wish-fulfilment film" and the ending of the movie actually "makes him laugh".
In an interview with Collider, he said: "I've been calling this movie a wish-fulfilment film and fantasy from the beginning. It's a perverse wish-fulfilment film and fantasy. But for me, yeah, I do see the film as a dark comedy. The ending makes me laugh. Yeah, I was hoping to make kind of like a malignant crowd-pleaser."
The 'Hereditary' director says, for him, the film ends "cathartically" and although he finds it amusing he wants audiences to "question what they're feeling".
He added: "I'm hoping that 'Midsommar', especially, it's not just a movie that ends cathartically, but I'm hoping it's a film about catharsis in a way.
"I hope that whatever you're feeling at the end, whatever viewers feel at the end, I hope that they feel compelled to question what they're feeling and not just feel it. I also hope its funny, but I hope that the laughter catches in the throat."
Tagged in Jack Reynor Florence Pugh