A Breakup Goes Very, Very Wrong In The First Full Trailer For ‘Midsommar’

Midsommar, the new horror film from Ari Aster, the director of the pants-shittingly terrifying Hereditary, opens with a curiously familiar kind of pain — the tragedy of a particularly messy break-up.

Dani (Florence Pugh, probably the most talented actress of her generation) is clearly getting the cold shoulder from her partner, but refuses to accept the inevitable until he makes her, unceremoniously dumping her before a big trip they’re planning to go on.

But then, concerned about Dani’s well-being, one of her boyfriend’s friends decides to reinvite her, resulting in the kind of awkward nightmare trip that can only get worse if the destination in question turns out to be home to a collection of wide-eyed, vicious cultists who want to murder you and all of your friends with the help of vials of horrifying look potion.

Which, uh, it does.

Aster fans should get excited — Midsommar has clearly been constructed with the arch remove that made Hereditary such a masterpiece, a mix between the chilliness of Roman Polanski and the big spectacle even-handedness of Wes Anderson. Check out, for example, that extraordinary over the head shot featured in the trailer that follows Pugh through a plane and into the bathroom.

Also, horror fans in general should get themselves prepared too. For all the complaints from the hardcore horror community that Hereditary wasn’t “scary enough”, Midsommar looks like an unrepentant nightmare, filled with blood smears, an array of white-cloth wearing antagonists, and one helluva setting (could that line in the trailer about the late nightfall be the hint that this movie’s going to take place entirely in the bright sunshine?)

Midsommar hits Australian cinemas soon — the fast-approaching July 3, to be precise — so you’ve got more than enough time to invest in a couple of pairs of back-up dacks lest you have an unfortunate accident.