In the mid-aughts, three filmmakers, Robert Eggers, Ari Aster and Jordan Peele, burst onto the indie scene with horror films that felt imprinted with their own unique DNA
These three writer-directors found themselves empowered by genre filmmaking. Whether you like all three, or hate them, If the film industry wants to survive, it ought to consider recognizing artists like these in every way that it can. Hopefully more will come this decade.
Eggers, Aster and Peele have now directed three films each, they have also built up these hardened fan bases that will go and watch whatever films they do next. It helps that these filmmakers are very much ingrained in the horror genre, which has had a total resurgence the last 10 or so years, including at the arthouse.
Which filmmaker has the brightest future? My money is on Peele. He’s the most talented one and includes an extra added dose of sense of humor to his films. His sense of framing a scene, moving his camera, is second to none. He also seems to genuinely want to tackle hard-button issues. I can’t wait for his next film.
I find the very talented Aster peaked with “Hereditary,” but he’s recently been unchained by studio machinations and his vision hasn’t been as coherent or precise as it ought to be. He needs to calm down a bit and refocus. Then again, I may be in the minority here with this opinion — some of our readers absolutely love his polarizing “Beau is Afraid.”
As for Eggers, a brilliant technical filmmaker, “The Northman,” which I believe to be his best film, and for all of its silliness, proved that he can make movies that are big in scope but retain the intimacy of the story. Just like his other two counterparts, he has the ambition and talent to last as a filmmaker.
Recently, FilmUpdates asked its readership to pick between Aster, Peele and Eggers. Just to briefly assess, here’s how their filmography currently stands:
Robert Eggers (Witch, Lighthouse, Northman)
Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau is Afraid)
Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us, Nope)