Movies

'Midsommar', The New Horror Film From 'Hereditary' Director Ari Aster, Has A Very 'Wicker Man'-Like Teaser

midsommar teaser
By Chris Evangelista

Ari Aster, the filmmaker behind the terrifying Hereditary, is reuniting with A24 for one more fright flick. That film is called Midsommar, and A24 just released a tantalizing teaser. There's no actual footage, but instead some animated art for the movie. And while the teaser doesn't provide much in the way of plot, it does throw off some serious Wicker Man vibes, giving us a good hint of what type of story Aster is telling here. Check out the Midsommar teaser below.

Behold! Some dancing girls! In theory that shouldn't be scary, but there's clearly an air of menace here. The girls are dancing around a maypole, which is big part of the the Midsummer's Eve festivities in Sweden. As for Midsummer itself, it's traditionally a time of magic:

Midsummer was considered to be a time of magic, and anything to do with nature was thought to have a special power. Gathering flowers to weave into wreaths and crowns was a way to harness nature's magic to ensure good health throughout the year.  Even though most people these days probably are unaware of the magical origins of the tradition, weaving crowns of flowers is still a major part of any Midsummer observance.

That actually sounds quite pleasant! But I'm sure Aster has found a way to make it unsettling. This teaser image throws off serious Wicker Man vibes, and that's exciting.  In the film, "a couple travels to Sweden to visit their friend's rural hometown for its fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult." The cast includes Jack Reynor, Will Poulter and Florence Pugh.

Aster has said the film is "technically a horror film," going on to call it "Scandinavian folk horror." Aster also told Film Comment that the movie is "an apocalyptic breakup movie," and revealed that the "recent death of the main character's parents casts a sense of dread over the proceedings." Aster's breakout movie Hereditary also involved the death of a parent, so the filmmaker clearly has a thing about that topic.

I'm a huge fan of Hereditary, and I'm excited to see Aster release another horror film so soon. That said, I'm dreading the inevitable "is this really a horror movie?" conversation that seems to always pop-up whenever a modern horror movie that doesn't have jump scares hits theaters (especially if that horror movie is being released by A24).

Midsommar arrives August 9, 2019.

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