Directed by Ari Aster / Screenplay by Ari Aster

The genre of ‘folk horror’ has been much discussed in recent years, popularised in particular by the ever-growing cult of appreciation surrounding three British films made more than half a century ago: Witchfinder General (1968), Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971), and The Wicker Man (1973). In truth there is little that’s concrete or consistent about what exactly defines folk horror, besides an atmosphere created by certain elements which typically include a rural setting, arcane folklore, pagan rituals, and a sense of humanity’s ancient relationship with the landscape. During the 1970s and 1980s, a taste for similar ingredients fuelled a great deal of British television drama, much of it aimed at younger audiences: Children of the Stones (1977), The Moon Stallion (1978), Robin of Sherwood (1984-86) and even Worzel Gummidge (1979-81) tick most of the folk horror boxes. More recently, films like A Field in England (2013) and The Witch (2015) signalled a renewed interest in the genre, and by the time American filmmaker Ari Aster’s epic Midsommar landed in 2019, it seemed we were witnessing a full-blown folk horror revival. Long, languid and harrowing, Midsommar opens in New York City, where it establishes in its four young protagonists a very modern powder-keg of grief, toxic masculinity and disintegrating relationships. When our heroes are invited to attend a midsummer festival in a remote rural commune in Sweden, their foibles and insecurities run riot, and what follows is not for the fainthearted: a disorienting collision between Scandi-Noir and The Wicker Man which challenges the viewer almost as ferociously as it challenges Dani (Florence Pugh) and her hapless, ill-starred companions.

Framed Dimensions: 330mm x 410mm

Acrylic on 300gsm Arches oil paper
Glazed, mounted and framed

Supplied with signed letter of authenticity from Barnaby.