Episode 94: ‘Hereditary’ with ‘Pet Sematary’ Director Mary Lambert

Episode notes

HereditaryMary Lambert is an Arkansas native and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. There she became enfolded in the music scene, and her experimental shorts led her to the world of music videos. In her early career, she directed some of the most iconic videos of the time. A short list of these includes Janet Jackson’s “Control” and “Nasty Boys,” Madonna’s “Borderline,” “Like a Virgin,” “Material Girl,” “La Isla Bonita,” and “Like a Prayer.” Other artists include Tom Tom Club, Whitney Houston, The Go-Gos, Sting, Annie Lennox, and Debbie Harry. From there, Lambert ventured into feature films with her debut narrative, Siesta, an adaptation of Patrice Chapman’s novel by Patricia Knop. After that film, Lambert went back to music videos until she got the call that Stephen King was adapting his book Pet Sematary. She got the big OK from King and Pet Sematary was a hit. Most recently Lambert directed episodes of Step Up: High Water, Arrow, and The Blacklist.

The movie that Mary chose to discuss is TOO scary. She chose Ari Aster’s Hereditary. Mary gets mystical on us – she examines witches, spells, and the subconscious tokens in art that are felt and not spoken. Plus, she talks about working with actors that have very different approaches. She and April dissect the inner workings of a melodrama. They celebrate the performances in Hereditary, particularly Milly Shapiro and Toni Collette. And Mary reveals the difficulty in cutting something she loves out of one of her projects.

You can stream Pet Sematary now.

And if you haven’t seen Hereditary yet, be careful.

With April Wolfe and Mary Lambert.

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Produced by Casey O’Brien and Laura Swisher for MaximumFun.org.