Ahead of halloween, come with us, as we draw the curtains, pop some popcorn (and pop on a flower crown) and explore the very best A24 movie soundtracks.
There’s few entertainment studios/film distributors operating today that hold the kind of widespread cultural prestige that A24 do. Having risen to prominence thanks to the smash success of their female rage-centric, arthouse-horror output, from 2018’s Hereditary, to 2019’s Midsommar and The Witch (2015) – the company is known as much for their slick branding, quirky merchandise and their projects’ pop-iconography as much as they are for the films they release themselves.
Read up on all the latest features and columns here.
Going beyond run of the mill t-shirts and poster offerings, the aforementioned merchandise accompanying A24’s films now caters to cinephiles and crate digging music fanatics alike – with a large selection of their catalogue’s soundtracks available to purchase on vinyl. With each element of the brand being so expertly curated – it should come as no surprise that there are some fantastic scores and needle drops across this broad range of flicks. Come with us, as we draw the curtains, pop some popcorn (and pop on a flower crown) and explore the very best soundtracks from the A24 movie universe.
The Witch
This cult-hit horror from Robert Eggers not only launched the career of it-girl Anya Taylor Joy, but epitomised much of the ‘A24 Film Trope Checklist’ points that fans and detractors alike have catalogued – blood spattered women, demonic animals, pagan lore etc.
The Witch’s soundtrack is unsettling for its sparsity. With little more than drawn out eerie strings, ghostly choral arrangements and minimalist percussion, composer Mark Korven gets under an audience’s skin.
As the film’s horror slowly encroaches, the tracks become more frenetic, noisy and affronting. The handful of traditional folk songs written in the style of the film’s time period is also a clever touch that really immerses viewers deep in those haunting New England woodlands.
Zola
While one might expect a film that takes place predominantly on Florida highways and in strip clubs to be set to boisterous, pop, trap and hip-hop cuts, Zola’s sparkling, bell-forward synthesiser score is incredibly ethereal and dreamlike – reflecting the lead character’s deep interiority, which Janicza Bravo’s film priorities. Composer Mica Levi, whose stacked resume includes 2013’s Under the Skin, 2016’s Jackie and 2019’s Monos, creates something intuitive, intensely modern, and as strange as the story the film itself is based upon.
Lady Bird
A strong contender for the best mother-daughter relationship portrayal in film of all time, Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is a nostalgia inducing, modern indie masterpiece, not least thanks to Saoirse Ronan’s compelling performance. Jon Brion’s score is delightful, drawing viewers deep into the early 2000s setting. The score is predominantly made up of gentle acoustic guitar arrangements punctuated by subtle horns and keys, which add texture and are reminiscent of the twee-indie pop music popular at that time. Original score aside, a special shout out must also be made to the heart melting Dave Matthews Band needle drops at various points throughout the film.
Hereditary
Another horror entry, Hereditary‘s 2018 marketing campaign was spearheaded by claims of it being the scariest movie ever – and it’s certainly one of the scariest in recent history. The soundtrack, composed by Colin Stetson, really bolsters its spooks. Stetson’s score is brash and dissonant, underscoring the abject terror personified on screen. A quick nod to the film’s sound design is also deserved – whoever thought that a simple tongue pop would be giving us nightmares for months on end?
Minari
Minari, a deserving Oscar darling of the A24 movie catalogue, even received a nomination for Best Original Score. Emile Mosseri’s compositions underscoring the Yi family’s bond are are warm and intensely intimate. The transcendently beautiful “Rain Song” and “Wind Song,” are sprawling, bristling with the titanic infinity of the natural landscapes that house the film’s characters.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
A master of composing for the millennial malaise indie horror (having scored It Follows) Disasterpiece’s soundtrack to the raucously funny Gen Z murder mystery Bodies Bodies Bodies is simultaneously manic, industrial and reminiscent of the pits of the club. Razor sharp synths and phat trap beat laden, this score is equal parts brimming-with-suspense and 2am dance floor. An honourable mention to Charli XcX’s outrageously camp hyper pop title track for the film “Hot Girl” which has now become one of the alt pop princess’ biggest tracks.
Pearl
For his second collaboration to date with director Ti West following 2022’s X, industry heavyweight Tyler Bates created a transcendently beautiful, soaring orchestral score reminiscent of Hollywood’s golden age for the film’s prequel, Pearl. Bates’ Bernard Herrmann inspired melodramatic swells are the sonic equivalent of Mia Goth’s disturbing prolonged smile sequence that closes the film – a winking, saccharine nod to the desperation and horror that can lurk beneath the idealised Americana facade.
Uncut Gems
From its casting through to the gritty, 70s reminiscent cinematography and, undoubtedly, Adam Sandler’s lead performance as Howie Bling, A24’s Uncut Gems is already cementing itself as a modern classic – and is widely considered to be one of the most stressful films released in recent years – if not ever.
The vicarious stress we feel through a blinged out Sandler racing around New York, his addiction spiralling out of control, is only emboldened by the film’s the soundtrack, written and recorded by Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin. Crafted around the sounds of the an analogue heavyweight, the Moog One, Lopatin’s synth-centric tracks are somewhat reminiscent of Vangelis’ own pioneering score for Blade Runner, with his droning oscillators and warbling filter sweeps providing a new undercurrent of suspense to soundtrack Howie’s escapades.
Read our interview with Tyler Bates, the composer of Pearl and X‘s scores, here.
