Ari Aster arrived on the scene in 2018 with the resounding thud of a small child's noggin bouncing off a telephone pole. The director's jarring, head-rolling feature-length debut Hereditary pretty much guaranteed that its follow-up, Midsommar, would be highly anticipated in horror circles. And that was before Aster gave it the absolutely wonderful descriptor of, in his own words, "a Wizard of Oz for perverts." As another modern piece of art once said: "My brand."

Speaking to Vulture, Aster gave more than a few intriguing comparisons for his upcoming nightmare.

“It’s a breakup movie, in the same way that Hereditary is a family tragedy,” Aster shared. “It’s less overtly a horror movie, but it’s still working in that same space. It’s very macabre. But people shouldn’t go in expecting Hereditary.” When asked what he’d liken Midsommar to, if not Hereditary, Aster paused for a full minute. “Is it your Mamma Mia?” we asked. “Yeah, sure, I’d say so,” he laughed. “It’s a Wizard of Oz for perverts.”

What an insanely delightful way to describe a film while also not shedding any more light on the already-mystifying first teaser trailer. Starring Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family) and Jack Reynor (Sing Street), the film gives off seriously unsettling Wicker Man, cult-y vibes. Visually, it couldn't look more different from Hereditary, with Aster trading in claustrophobically dark attics and hallways for fields of multicolored wildflowers.

I suppose we'll get more answers when the film hits theaters on August 9.

For more on Midsommar and Hereditary, check out the links below:

 

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