Midsommar Horror Inspired By Director’s Break-Up
Director Ari Aster has revealed to Variety that his latest movie Midsommar, where a world of darkness unfolds in broad daylight, was inspired by a break-up in his own life.
In Midsommar, Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor star as a couple on the brink of splitting up when tragedy strikes, and they decide to hold their grief at bay by joining friends on a trip to a remote midsummer festival in Sweden.
But what begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when they are invited to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise rather disturbing.
Ari Aster told Variety: “I was sort of going through a breakup at the time and piecing through the ruins of a failed relationship. I’d wanted to write a breakup movie before, but I could never find an angle that felt interesting.”
“But then I was approached by a production company that said they wanted me to write a folk horror film… We found that the framework of the folk horror movie was kind of perfect for a story about a relationship ending.”
Midsommar receives its theatrical release this weekend in the UK and USA, and features a strong Swedish supporting cast which includes Louise Peterhoff (Blue Eyes), Liv Mjönes (Sthlm Requiem), and Julia Ragnarsson (Spring Tide).
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