‘Midsommar’, The New Horror Film From ‘Hereditary’ Director Ari Aster, Has A Very ‘Wicker Man’-Like Teaser
Ari Aster, the filmmaker behind the terrifyingHereditary, is reuniting with A24 for one more fright flick. That film is calledMidsommar, 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 seriousWicker Manvibes, giving us a good hint of what type of story Aster is telling here. Check out theMidsommarteaser below.
💐🌷🌸🌺🌻☀️SOMMAR 2019pic.twitter.com/OtDGZ3y5eT
— A24 (@A24)August 01, 2025
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 atime 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 seriousWicker Manvibes, 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 includesJack Reynor,Will PoulterandFlorence Pugh.
Aster hassaidthe film is “technically a horror film,” going on to call it “Scandinavian folk horror.” Aster also toldFilm Commentthat 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 movieHereditaryalso involved the death of a parent, so the filmmaker clearly has a thing about that topic.
I’m a huge fan ofHereditary, and I’m excited to see Aster release another horror film so soon. That said, I’m dreading the inevitable “is thisreallya 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).
