Ari Aster‘s latest project, Disappointments Blvd., came out of the gates strong with Joaquin Phoenix announced as the lead, and the more actors that sign on the more exciting the movie looks.
Deadline revealed a bunch of new actors attached to the film, which would be Aster’s follow-up to Midsommar. Parker Posey, Zoe Lister-Jones, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Michael Gandolfini, and Denis Menochet have all signed on to the project, which is still super mysterious. In fact, we don’t even know what genre it’s going to be, although it’s a safe bet that, with Aster writing and directing, shit’s gonna get uncomfortable at some point.
What We Know So Far
The only thing out there right now is a one-liner that describes the plot as being “a decades-spanning portrait of one of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time.”
No reference to suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning, bear suit fires, or elderly cult worshippers with their dongs hanging out, but they don’t explicitly rule any of that weirdness out, either.
A Cornucopia of Talent
Parker Posey is a particularly exciting addition to the cast, which already includes Phoenix, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, and Pattie Lupone. Told ya’, it’s stacked. But let’s not sleep on Life in Pieces actress and The Craft: Legacy filmmaker Zoe Lister-Jones or Stephen McKinley Henderson, a great character actor who you’ll remember from Fences, Devs, and Lady Bird to name only a few.
It’s no surprise that Aster has his pick of the litter when it comes to casting. Both Hereditary and Midsommar aren’t just good genre movies, they’re loaded with complex characters in extreme scenarios, which is also known around Hollywood way as “actor bait.”
Think of Toni Collette in Hereditary and how extreme she gets to play her character, going from detached to grief-stricken to slowly losing her mind. Or how about Florence Pugh‘s arc in Midsommar that pays off with that cathartic, memorable ending?
I interviewed Aster for Hereditary and he told me that his main inspiration for that horrific film wasn’t a classic thriller, but rather 1950s melodramas. And you see that at work in his movies. That’s where all the dysfunctional family stuff comes from and that’s the catnip for actors.
Aster’s one of the most fascinating creatives working in movies at the moment and after being knocked on my butt at the Sundance premiere of Hereditary (seriously, the “telephone pole” scene was one of the tensest, quietest audience reaction moments I’ve ever experienced), I’ll be first in line for any movie he comes up with.
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