The Strange Thing About the Johnsons

The Strange Thing About the Johnsons is the short submitted by Ari Aster for his thesis, this before he established himself as one of the most talented directors in the contemporary horror film scene. Indeed, one of the most compelling things about the film is to note how several of the elements that made his best-known films outstanding were already part of his poetics from the very beginning. Among them, the propensity to tackle really taboo subjects, so much so that the idea must have been frowned upon in a politically correct university, such as AFI. So yes, Ari Aster's university professors most certainly hated him.

While acerbic, Aster did as good a job with the small budget at his disposal as in handling the theme. For example, you can see how the gimmick of one of the most iconic sequences in Hereditary began to develop in this very movie (where it is used due to the actual practical impossibility of shooting a certain scene). Some lines of writing are really sophisticated, as is the attention to the emotional reaction to the traumas of the different characters, and all the actors involved were perfect in their parts.

This is a very good first impression from recently acclaimed new director, Ari Aster. I would call him a horror director, however, based off the core nature of his films and some things Aster has said himself including things like he didn't intentionally set out to make a horror film from the start with "Hereditary". Ari Aster crafts heavy, haunting, and personal dramas that have a way of creating their very own unique atmosphere. An atmosphere usually filled with gut wrenching terror. "The Strange Thing About the Johnsons" is just that. This is Aster's most genre film as it feels almost 100% a drama. It is reminiscent of another anthology drama/horror called "Family Portraits" they are both very disturbing in their nature. "The Strange Thing" is the story about a suburban family that where the father and son share a dark secret. The story is very engaging as it is subject matter most of us have not seen portrayed in film before. This movie also kind of reminds me of Trey Edward Shults first film "Krisha". Overall a nice little short film to watch for fans of "Hereditary" and "Midsommar"

It's nice to see that Ari Aster was into disturbing people from the start.

This short is amazing.

An ordinary family and a secret. Across decades more and more hideous, terrible . Obvious, the worst ,sustaining a solid story who is only a kick to self interrogation for audience.

Maybe not exactly the subject, taboo , sensitive and easy to ignore for preserve a form of innocence is the provocatiive , but the bizarre perspective , intensified by the virtues of film, from script, tension or acting, opening a sort of Pandora box because this kind of vulgar, horrible things must remain hidden in each circumstance.

And this makes the film be not exactly another good homosexual one , or story of abusive, spoiled young man terroriying his father , but a film about family and the relations defining it, about parenthood and relation father - son.

Shocking ? No doubts ! But, in essence, pretty realistic , the confrontation mother - son reminding this after a too long period of silence with virtue of acceptance.

I was amazed at this movie! It was not at all what I expected it to be. The production values, cinematography, acting, writing, directing, and editing were absolutely phenomenal. Most of the other reviewers here have given it a low rating due to how uneasy the subject material made them. One even goes so far as to say "the content of this project is not only disgusting, but implausible and completely ridiculous." However the very next line in the review is "I know these things actually happen," So how can something be both implausible and ridiculous, yet actually happen? This movie is great. It is thought provoking and I think does a good good of presenting an often uncontemplated take on the dark motifs the movie explores. It is designed to make the audience uncomfortable so that, hopefully, they will talk about what they have just watched. My hat goes off to the filmmaker and all those involved for creating a truly unique and visionary piece of cinema.