Horror wunderkind Ari Aster spooked (or, more accurately, upset) audiences with last year’s family-destroying Hereditary. I brought my girlfriend at the time to a nice Friday night showing. She was a mother, and, boy, was she unhappy. I was tugging my collar like a madman. I’ll know better this time to bring any loved ones to Aster’s follow-up, Midsommar. The director’s sophomore effort is shaping up to be another stylish and slick spookfest, at least per that first short teaser that’s been released. Man, A24 knows how to cut a good trailer, huh?
Recently, Aster dished out some more info about his upcoming film during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, establishing the horror flick’s influences and tone. While Aster comments on the The Wicker Man similarities – they’re too obvious to ignore – he goes on to say how Midsommar differs from the seminal “guy dies in a giant wicker fire” genre. “As a piece of folk-horror, it’s pretty irreverent in that it doesn’t really stay comfortably on that route. That’s why I’m making sure to describe it as a fairytale,” says Aster.
He continues to go on about how the film’s going to be “psychedelic,” which, given his penchant for atmosphere and strange lighting tricks, should come as no surprise. “There are no solid [comparisons] that I can hand you,” the director says. “I’m hoping that the film feels pretty singular and is a trip.”
The production team also shared a photo from what they’re calling The Last Supper scene. Just take a gander at the picture above and, uh, I mean, you can really see why they called it that. Apparently, the sleepy hollow involved in the film gets up to “ritualistic meals” while celebrating Midsummer. I wonder what could possibly be on the menu…(psst: it’s YOU!!!! Maybe).
From what we’ve seen so far, this flick is shaping up to probably become another horror classic, much like Hereditary before it. And to prove just how on point Aster and A24 are, Midsommar is out the middle of this summer, July 3rd.
