While Disney built galaxies, A24 built intimate, uncomfortable worlds. They released Ex Machina —a chilling AI thriller shot in a single Norwegian location for $15 million. It made $37 million and won an Oscar for visual effects, beating Star Wars: The Force Awakens . Then came the one-two punch of 2017: Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird , a tender, messy portrait of a Sacramento teenager that felt so real it hurt; and Ari Aster’s Hereditary , a horror film so devastatingly sad and terrifying that audiences reportedly had panic attacks in theaters.