The poster for "Midsommar" captures a visceral juxtaposition of beauty and dread that echoes the film's haunting narrative. At first glance, we see a portrait filled with the vibrancy of life—a woman adorned with a crown of flowers, bright and resplendent, as if celebrating the height of summer. Yet, this idyllic image is subverted by the tear streaking down her cheek, a visual clue that not all is as joyous as it seems.
The title "Midsommar" is prominently displayed in a clean, bold typeface, with a stylistic nod to the runic alphabets, which is fitting for a film that is steeped in the arcane rituals of a rural Swedish community. The script below, "Let the festivities begin," is an ironic understatement, considering the film's spiral into pagan horror.
Directed by Ari Aster, who is known for "Hereditary," "Midsommar" weaves a tale of a group of friends who travel to Sweden for a festival that occurs once every 90 years, only to find themselves in the clutches of a cult. The color palette of the poster, dominated by a bright, almost ethereal blue sky, belies the film’s descent into the terrifying and grotesque, effectively capturing the film's unsettling theme of daylight horror.
The poster conveys a powerful emotional narrative—it hints at the psychological journey of the protagonist, played by Florence Pugh, whose initial appearance of bliss melts into a realization of horror. It suggests a story about the dichotomy between human frailty and the inexorable forces of tradition and nature. The film itself is lauded for its masterful cinematography and its slow-burning terror, where the pastoral becomes nightmarish, and the daylight does not bring safety but exposes the characters to relentless dread.
"Midsommar" became noted for its depiction of grief, relationship decay, and the terror of the unfamiliar, all wrapped in the deceptive guise of a pastoral fairy tale. Like the poster, the film lures the viewer with the promise of beauty and festivities, only to reveal a story that is as much about the horrors of the human psyche as it is about the darkness lurking in sunlit fields.