Summer Festivals Will Never Seem the Same After This Midsommar Trailer

Thanks to Hereditary, I am still afraid that someone is floating in the corner of my room when I wake up in the night. It was the first movie that disturbed me on a visceral level as an adult. So, I am obviously ready to go back for seconds of whatever Ari Aster is serving up.

The next course he is dishing up is an unsettling cult nightmare called Midsommar. Hereditary was a little opaque about what was really going on in its advertising, but this trailer says fanatic sacrificial rituals up front.

A group of backpackers decides to attend a mysterious festival in Sweden. It’s very elusive as the festival only happens every 90 years. Everyone there appears to be a lot younger than 90, so apparently, it is their first time. Nonetheless, they are all fully indoctrinated and seem to have been waiting their entire lives for this summer.

On arriving, the first thing the villagers do is try to convince them to take some sort of drug that will paralyze them, but it’s totally fun! They promise! Don’t mind the bloody handprints, disemboweled corpse or terrifying moaning. Everyone is having a great time.

I went to college in California and all of my classmates were crazy for Coachella. They always tried to convince me to go. Uh-uh. I know this is what it looks like. Demonic rituals in boho flower outfits. You can’t fool me.

Midsommar is already striking a very different tone than Hereditary. The scares are subtler and the ambiance is brighter. What they do have in common, however, is a connection to fanaticism and history. Obviously, this festival is going to be a descent into terrifying and bloody rituals. So yeah, Fyre Festival could have been worse.

Midsommar opens in theaters August 9 – almost exactly halfway through summer.