Indie powerhouse studio A24 looks like it will continue its streak of bringing us unsettling and unnerving horror films with it’s newest offering, Midsommar. From the writer/director of last year’s incredible Hereditary, Ari Aster returns with a familiar tone, but a completely different visual style.
From the first trailer, the film looks as if Wes Anderson were doing some kind of Swedish remake of Wicker Man. The pastel color palette and complete lack of shadows are not what comes to mind when you think of a horror film, but just from the briefest of glances, it’s effective. The editing does a wonderful job of creating these glimpses into their films (like Hereditary, A Ghost Story, It Comes At Night, The Witch) and establishing an atmosphere of dread, all while leaving us scratching our heads as to what the actual fuck is really going on.
Judging by the little bit that we are able to see in the trailer, it looks like we’re in for a naturalist experience. Anything from communing with nature to cult lifestyles is at play here. Maybe there is some magical element that will surprise us. All we know is that it plays very close to the Swedish festival of Midsommar. The clothes, the Ikea-esque building designs, the bear autopsy, and the scattered bits of Nordic runes all are signatures of something stemming from a long tradition, possibly ancient.
Midsommar is scheduled to come out on August 9th, right near the end of summer. Even though the film looks like it’s going to be drenched in sunlight, I doubt this is one you’ll still want to watch in the dark. Check out the trailer below, if you dare.
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