Ari Aster’s Top Comedy Films: From Satire to the Absurd

There’s a thin line between a good scare and a proper laugh, and Ari Aster, best known for his unsettling horror films, seems to know exactly where it is. While his work is often described as disturbing, there’s always a streak of dark wit running through it. Whether it’s the over-the-top moments in Hereditary or the uncomfortable, almost suffocating awkwardness of Beau is Afraid, Aster’s films often leave punters unsure whether to laugh or squirm. So, it’s no surprise that his own taste in comedies is just as unpredictable.

It’s easy to picture Aster enjoying the offbeat, sometimes excruciating humour of Charlie Kaufman’s films. Take I’m Thinking of Ending Things, for example – a bleak, almost cryptic story that’s really just a comedy about despair, the sort of thing Aster would probably appreciate. Or maybe he’s a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, a film that takes the mickey out of romance with a cold, deadpan style, complete with bizarre violence and surreal twists.

Revealing His Comedy Favourites

Luckily, there’s no need to guess. In a 2023 chat with /Film, Aster laid out his love for the genre and rattled off a list of his top picks.

“I’ll just knock some off,”

he said, before naming nine films that range from old-school classics to more offbeat choices. Among the familiar names are Dr Strangelove, Naked Gun, and Airplane – all staples for anyone who loves a good laugh. He also mentioned Annie Hall and Defending Your Life, both of which put a twist on the usual romantic comedy formula.

But Aster’s list doesn’t stop at the obvious. He threw in a couple of Paul Verhoeven’s sci-fi action flicks – RoboCop and Starship Troopers. While most wouldn’t call these comedies, Aster sees the humour in their over-the-top violence and satirical edge. RoboCop, set in a grim version of Detroit, is so excessive that some scenes had to be trimmed, but Verhoeven was clearly having a laugh with it. Starship Troopers, too, pushes genre boundaries so far that many critics missed the joke entirely, taking its wild satire at face value. Aster admitted,

“Verhoeven is a hero of mine, somebody I’m always thinking about,”

and said he kept the Dutch director in mind while working on Beau is Afraid.

Dark Humour and Unconventional Picks

It’s clear Aster has a soft spot for comedies that aren’t afraid to tread on thin ice. One of his choices, Four Lions, is a 2010 satire about a group of hopeless would-be terrorists in London. Directed by Chris Morris, who’s known for his unsettling and hard-to-categorise work, the film mixes sharp one-liners with genuinely likeable characters, making it a pitch-black classic that’s as funny as it is uncomfortable.

Rounding out Aster’s list is Martin Scorsese’s After Hours from 1985. This underrated gem follows an office worker’s bizarre, night-long journey through Lower Manhattan, where things get stranger by the minute. The film blends absurdity, a touch of body horror, and a series of Kafkaesque mishaps, all wrapped up in a story about papier-mâché art. Of all the films Aster mentioned, this one probably comes closest to matching the surreal, painful, and darkly comic tone of his own work.