After leaving the film audience with shaky knees and wet pants with his terrifying debut feature “Hereditary,” director Ari Aster proved he’s going to be keeping us up at night for a long, long time. Though, he insists his new film, “Midsommar” isn’t exactly a horror film like his first chiller was. He says this film is more “psychedelic” and made his own “Alice in Wonderland” comparisons. The newest trailer brings in more of the bright-tinted creepiness we saw in the first trailer, which widely drew thoughts of “The Wicker Man” and shows more glimpses of just what Aster has planned for audiences this time.
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“Midsommar” centers on Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter and “The Good Place” star William Jackson Harper as a quartet who stumbles upon a Swedish festival held in a small village. Though, these villagers very much have more going on than rustic charm, and we have no doubt that the four travelers and more will have their hands full and will be fighting for their lives eventually when the sordid truths of this community come to light. Essentially, this festival doesn’t sound anything like Bonnaroo or Coachella.’
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The sunny, faded exteriors pull all the horror out in the open with this film, which gives up-and-coming cinematography ace Pawel Pogorzelski (who worked with Aster on “Hereditary”) plenty to chew on to make his shots look fiendishly welcoming and ultimately fatal. It’s the aesthetic that really grips you with this one early and makes the whole occasion so unsettling, outside of the generally hedonistic moods being emitted from the cult and the always-scary “vacation from Hell” backdrop for our leads.
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A24 feels confident enough to release “Midsommar” right in the heat of July summer movie season, which is a show of confidence in Aster and his work. He didn’t let them down last summer with a film that won over critics and genre fans alike, and this preview shows he’s perhaps about to make it two-for-two. We’ll know soon enough once this fright fest makes its way to theaters on July 3.
