He thought Greenhouse will be perfect as the son (the grown up version). He merely wanted to work with Brandon Greenhouse, his batchmate at the American Film Institute, who was a part of the project at the ideation stage. Does it make a difference that we are watching the story of an African-American family? Aster has said that the choice of a black family was purely incidental. The term ‘disturbing’ barely does justice to the theme. The closing shot of the opening scene is a shocker and then we cut to 14 years later. I already feel like I’ve given away too much of what happens in The Strange Thing about the Johnsons, but trust me when I say this: you have no idea what lies ahead in this 29 minute film.
The line between cool dad and creepy dad is a fine one. Except there’s something odd about the whole thing, in the way Billy Mayo, who plays Mr Johnson, wears a smile that’s almost unsettling, seeming a little too eager than expected. A frank talk on sex education never did anyone any harm. Johnson walks in on his son masturbating, is embarrassed like any normal parent, shuts the door, but then, does what most normal parents would not: he decides to have a chat with his son. So does The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, the short film Aster made 10 years ago when he was still a film student. Hereditary, Ari Aster’s first feature film, begins with a father entering his son’s room as he lies on his bed.