To be clear, Midsommar doesn’t look to be set in the same world as Hereditary, but in a new chat with Indiewire, Ari Aster does at least touch upon the shared similarities between his debut feature and his upcoming follow-up. Just don’t go in expecting Paimon to show up…
“There’s nothing as explicit as [worshipping King Paimon],” Aster said of this year’s film. “There’s no Paimon involved. But I would say that the film is something of a companion to ‘Hereditary,’ although the similarities didn’t really occur to me until we were on set.”
“Thematic ties became apparent to me. But nothing so overt as Paimon worshipping.“
Aster continued, “I would say Hereditary absolutely was a horror film, unabashedly, and this film is, I am very careful to call it an adult fairy tale. That’s what this is. This is an adult contemporary fairy tale.”
Aster’s new film stars Jack Reynor, Will Poulter and Florence Pugh with Vilhem Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Ellora Torchia and Archie Madekwe.
“Pugh and Reynor will play a couple that travels to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown for its fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.”
A24 will release Midsommar on July 3.
