Having finally got that clucking noise out of my head from Hereditary, which premiered in June of last year, you can understand my frustration when I sat down to watch the director’s latest trailer this morning. On the one hand, I’m thrilled. The trailer’s indescribably eerie, trading the rhythmic clucking for even creepier exhales. On the other hand, the nightmares have returned.
Ari Aster’s latest bad-shit-crazy effort is one unlike any other. Titled Midsomnar, the film follows a couple vacationing in a remote Swedish Village. Sounds like a million other horror movies, right? Wrong.
Centering on fables similar to the Greek myths that concluded Hereditary, this camp (or cult?) seems to be steeped with Swedish folklore (the title Midsomnar refers to an ancient Swedish tradition for the longest day of the year), which is why the picture is overflowing with blinding light and colorful flowers. Don’t let that fool you though, this is genuinely creepy stuff.
“You can’t speak, you can’t move” says an old lady in the background. That’s how most of us felt watching Aster’s debut, and that’s likely how we’ll feel again here.
With a Wicker Man-like premise, and Annihilation-like visuals, this one’s sure to be another hit. And it has to be. With a cast that includes Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Julia Ragnarsson, Jack Reynor and William Jackson Harper, what could go wrong? A lot of things, actually. The actors from Hereditary reportedly suffered from PTSD after concluding production. And having seen it, you can’t blame them.
Still, from an audience perspective, everything’s hinting at Midsomnar being another end of the summer breakout. The movie opens August 9th courtesy of A24, just in time to spice things up a bit during the blockbuster season. Until then, I’ll be getting as much sleep as possible while I still can.