Midsommar
Which cut?
Watch the Director's Cut.
Adds 20 minutes of character development and ritual footage.
Available: Theatrical · Director's Cut
The brief
Ari Aster trades the claustrophobic darkness of Hereditary for sun-drenched terror that feels like a bad mushroom trip in IKEA purgatory. Florence Pugh anchors this deliberately paced nightmare with a performance that's equal parts grief-stricken and genuinely unnerving as she gets pulled into increasingly fucked-up Scandinavian rituals. The film moves like thick honey, building dread through gorgeous cinematography and folk horror imagery that'll stick in your brain for weeks. Perfect for fans of The Wicker Man who want their horror beautiful, weird, and completely unhinged.
The verdict
If you crave horror that's visually stunning, deliberately paced, and psychologically disturbing rather than jump-scare driven, this is an essential watch that delivers genuine dread through beautiful daylight terror. If you need fast-moving plots or can't handle extreme folk horror weirdness stretched across nearly two and a half hours, you'll find this pretentious and boring.
Watch with
- 👥 Horror fans who appreciate arthouse scares
- ⚠️ Skip if you're squeamish about gore
Heads up
- Graphic suicide by elderly characters (extreme)
- Brutal ritualistic killings and violence (extreme)
- Sexual content including non-consensual acts (moderate)
- Drug use and hallucinogenic sequences (moderate)
Credits
- Director
- Ari Aster
- Cast
- Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter
We Reviewed This Film
Dive deeper into what makes this film special with our in-depth analysis.
Read Full ReviewOfficial synopsis
A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins
The Double
Make a night of it
Pair this with Beau Is Afraid (2023)
Both Aster films explore anxiety through surreal horror and dysfunctional relationships.
Total runtime: 2h 28m + 2h 59m = 5h 27m
