The first full-length auteur study of one of the most original and provocative filmmakers of the contemporary American cinema, focusing on the interconnection of genre and independent film aesthetics.

In a stunning public statement in late 2023, Martin Scorsese described Ari Aster as “one of the most extraordinary new voices in world cinema.” In less than a decade, Aster has written and directed some of the most provocative films, including Hereditary (2018), his first feature and a work hailed as a modern horror classic. Midsommar (2019) staggered audiences with the originality of its folkloric horror that was both familiar and strikingly original. It was also a controversial work that brought Aster to the forefront of independent auteur American filmmaking. His most recent film, Beau is Afraid (2023), demonstrated Aster's ambition, and can only be described as one of the most challenging surreal films in recent American filmmaking.

Radical Auteur: The Cinema of Ari Aster brings together world-renowned scholars, researchers, and practitioners to study the cinema of Aster in its entirety. It includes chapters on Aster's short films and his early construction of voice and style; it also draws on multiple viewpoints, and analytical and philosophical perspectives, to analyze each of his feature films. The book concludes with an interview with Ari Aster in which he discusses his artistic vision and approach to screenwriting and direction.

Bruce Isaacs is Associate Professor and Chair of Film Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. He is the author of three books on film history and aesthetics and is the co-creator and co-host of the popular podcast, Film Versus Film.

Kim Wilkins is Associate Professor in Media Aesthetics at the University of Oslo, Norway. She is the author of American Eccentric Cinema (Bloomsbury, 2019), and her most recent monograph, Gentrifying Scenes, is forthcoming.