Ari Aster Shares the Comedy Films That Shaped His Dark Humor

There’s a razor-thin boundary between fear and laughter, and few directors walk it quite like Ari Aster. While he’s best known for his unsettling horror films, Aster consistently weaves humor into his work. Whether it’s the relentless intensity of Hereditary or the sun-drenched dread of Midsommar, his movies often push viewers to the edge—sometimes so far that laughter becomes a natural response. Beau is Afraid, for instance, delivers such squirm-inducing moments that chuckling feels more like a reflex than genuine amusement. So, what kind of comedies does a filmmaker like Aster gravitate toward?

Instead of leaving us guessing, Aster laid it all out in a 2023 interview. He confessed his love for comedy and rattled off a list of favorites.

“I’ll just knock some off,”

he said, before naming nine films that span a wide spectrum. His picks include time-honored classics like Dr. Strangelove, The Naked Gun, and Airplane!, as well as offbeat romantic comedies such as Annie Hall and Defending Your Life.

Unconventional Choices and Satirical Gems

Surprisingly, Aster’s list also features two Paul Verhoeven sci-fi action flicks not typically labeled as comedies: RoboCop and Starship Troopers. RoboCop, released in 1987, paints a dystopian Detroit where officials unleash a lethal android cop, leading to chaos. Verhoeven’s over-the-top violence was so extreme that some scenes had to be trimmed, but the director ’s intent was always laced with dark humor.

Starship Troopers, another Verhoeven creation, takes genre conventions to their limits in the name of satire. The film ’s biting humor was so subtle that many critics missed it entirely, mistaking it for a straightforward action movie. Like Verhoeven’s infamous Showgirls, it was initially dismissed as overly serious, but Aster saw the comedic brilliance.

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

Aster explained, noting that he kept the Dutch filmmaker in mind while crafting Beau is Afraid.

Dark Satire and Surreal Adventures

Aster’s appreciation for comedies that tackle sensitive subjects is clear. Among his selections is Four Lions, the 2010 satire about a group of inept would-be terrorists in London. Directed by Chris Morris, the film blends unsettling themes with sharp, memorable dialogue, earning its place as a pitch-black classic.

Rounding out Aster’s list is Martin Scorsese’s After Hours from 1985, a film that follows an office worker’s bizarre, night-long journey through Lower Manhattan. This underrated gem defies easy categorization, mixing absurdity, elements of body horror, Kafkaesque misadventures, and even papier-mâché art. Of all his picks, this one seems most aligned with Aster’s own sensibilities: surreal, painful, and laced with the darkest kind of humor.