'Hereditary' director is back with another mind-boggling horror

Cape Town - From writer-director Ari Aster (Hereditary) comes a journey into the heart of darkness as an American couple, Dani and Christian (Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor), find themselves unexpectedly drawn into the world of a mysterious and dangerous primaeval cult during a vacation getaway with their friends in a rural, hidden Swedish village.

In Midsommar which releases in South African cinemas on Friday, 26 July Aster pushes the genre in new and unpredictable directions. 

The film began taking shape well before cameras rolled on Hereditary in early 2017. Several years prior, Aster was coming out of a three-year relationship and found himself reflecting on the break-up as he embarked on a new script.

Like Hereditary, which was a family drama disguised as a horror movie (based on Aster’s own experiences navigating grief and trauma), Midsommar became an opportunity to explore the downfall of a relationship through the lens of a twisted fairy tale, once again rooted in personal experience.

READ MORE: Director Ari Aster on Hereditary: I wanted it to feel like a nightmare

An apocalyptic adventure on a grand scale, Aster and his creative team construct a mesmerising and unique world from the ground up, replete with its own language, history, mythology, and traditions.

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