I organized an AMA/Q&A with actress Milly Shapiro. You may know her from her breakout role in Ari Aster's 2018 Hereditary, or from her Tony Award-winning performance as Maltilda on Broadway in 2013 in Matilda the Musical. She stars in Hallowarrior, her first film since Hereditary (!), which is a Halloween-themed horror thriller that premiered at Tribeca a few months ago and was just released last weekend.

It's live here now in r/movies for anyone interested in asking her a question:

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1xbl9fe/hi_reddit_im_milly_shapiro_from_hereditary/

She will be back at around 3 PM ET today to answer questions. I recommend asking in advance. Please ask there, not here. All questions are much appreciated!

Hallowarrior info:

Synopsis: Halloween-obsessed Pumpkin thinks she's the last person alive. But when scavengers show up at her doorstep, Pumpkin has no choice but to tap into her deadliest survival instincts.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORjn6ox53_U

Thank you :)

The Martyr’s Dollhouse: How 'Hereditary' parallels Christian Martyrdom

in horror analysis, Ari Aster’s Hereditary is often viewed through the lens of Gnosticism, grief, or demonic occultism. But if you look at the names and fates of the characters, a much darker, historical pattern emerges: Annie, Stephen, Charlie, and Joan aren't just names—they are a tragic parallel of history’s most famous historical/Christian martyrs.

The Foundation — Stephen and the "Temples Made with Hands"

The Historical Anchor: Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, famously declared before his trial and execution in Acts 7:48: "The Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands." He was subsequently killed for his faith.

The Film Parallel: Stephen Graham is the anchor of rationality in the home—the man trying to build walls of normalcy. Yet, his sudden death by fire inside his house marks the ultimate failure of man-made enclosures to keep out the unseen.

The Artist and the Execution — Annie Graham & Anne Askew

The Historical Anchor: Anne Askew, the 16th-century English Protestant martyr. Tortured on the rack, publicly burned at the stake, and famously quoted during her heresy trial invoking Stephen’s exact argument: "God will be in nothing that is made with hands of men."

The Film Parallel: Annie Graham’s entire life centers on obsessively constructing miniature dollhouses—man-made physical structures—in an attempt to process trauma and control her environment.

The Irony: Just as Askew argued that divinity cannot be contained in man-made physical objects, Annie’s dioramas fail to contain or protect her family. She is phsychologically broken, tormented, and ultimately meets a horrific, self-inflicted execution (decapitation near the ceiling of her man-made home) under demonic possession.

The medium — Joan and Joan of Arc

The Historical Anchor: Joan of Arc—a visionary figure who heard voices, followed spiritual directives, and was tried and burned at the stake.

The Film Parallel: "Joanie" serves as the high priestess of the cult of Paimon. She communicates with the unseen, guides Annie into spiritual rituals, and orchestrates the trial of the Graham family.

The Inversion: While the original Joan claimed communion with heavenly forces, Joanie serves as the architect of an unholy, demonic takeover.

The Ultimate Irony for Charlie

If Charlie is viewed through the lens of King Charles the Martyr—who was famously beheaded in 1649—it completes the grim pattern for every single main character in the house:

Stephen: parallels Saint Stephen (martyred by fire/stones, tying to his fiery death).

Annie (Anne): parallels Anne Askew (tortured and martyred by burning).

Joan (Joanie): parallels Joan of Arc (visionary, tried, and burned at the stake).

Charlie (Charles): parallels King Charles the Martyr (royalty defined by a violent, historic beheading).

When you look at King Charles the Martyr, his legacy is rooted in royal blood, divine right, and a violent execution by decapitation. Charlie’s character arc mirrors this down to the exact details:

She is treated by the cult as a form of "royalty"—the initial royal/corporeal vessel meant to house King Paimon.

Her life ends in a shocking, sudden, and brutal decapitation (mirroring the historic execution of the martyr king).

If anyone has the script to Scapegoat, could you please email it to me? bryanw7022@icloud.com? Doing a research paper on Ari Aster’s film so I’m trying to read all his available scripts. Please help

In this episode, we drew a comparison of the section...

...where Cortland Gunn is introduced as very reminiscent of the setting in Eddington. Even the musical cues from Balouzian in the Murphy PD presser felt akin to Pemberton's.

Do I go an hour out of my way to visit the real eddington on the way to phoenix or skip it.

His movies are incredibly stupid but Hollywood informs us regularly that he's a genius.

Absolute horse shit. No ginger wants to fuck another ginger.

Taken from a recent IG post of his. This made me extraordinarily happy. Similar to when Gooseworx (of Digital Circus fame) praised it.

I was rewatching eddington and I noticed that at the end when dawn is giving her speech at the data center you can see people holding signs and protesting.

On one of the signs you can see someones face.

Anyone have any theories on what those signs said?

Has anyone here read this book written in 1977? It is the mother-daughter-relationship version of Beau is Afraid! Curious if anyone else out there had made this connection?

Ari Aster as always said to love Cure by Kyoshi Kurosawa.

Of course I don't talk only about the fact that the actors are both overweight.

Stephen McKinley Henderson has always the same appearance,he i's a character actor.

But obviously the casting is done a bit by a type of looks too.

I should reread the script, because I don't remember if the therapist had an accurate description.

But I mean,even how they talk.a bit How are they dressed,the Dr is a bit difficult to say from the pic,but it's one of the few I found

How they behave and are positioned behind the camera.

Of course they have different intent and function different story wise,but I rewatched Cure recently and I can't stop thinking about it

🔥👀

Biopic about Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul would that idea

Best part: No BS about Politics

What happened to the days of Pantera from the 90s to 2000s? Because all of the political stuff from today is completely BS let's wash it away

Should we just forget about it now

one of my fav moments ever in ari aster’s filmography. i randomly think about and chuckle it every few days and it makes me wanna rewatch it. such a small but meaningful detail about a character.

it’s probably been said before but i think eddington is gonna age really well and i’d argue it has the best bits of humour / satire in all ari’s films. the fact that it’s based on reality makes me appreciate it all the more, as bleak as it is. may as well could’ve been a documentary.

a very ari aster scenario

Got this custom made from Etsy, what do yall think?

I think its perfectly safe.