When it comes to modern filmmakers, it’s not too often we hear Martin Scorsese express such reverence. However, in an upcoming book for Midsommar – released to celebrate the film’s first anniversary – Scorsese opens the piece with a wonderful introduction that praises not only the film but its director Ari Aster.
Scorsese writes, “A couple of years ago, I watched a first film called Hereditary. Right from the start, I was impressed. Here was a young filmmaker [Ari Aster] that obviously knew cinema. The formal control, the precision of the framing and the movement within the frame the pacing of the action, the sound — it was all there, immediately evident.”
That’s significant praise coming from the legendary filmmaker. It wasn’t too long ago he was starting his all-out war with modern blockbusters, so it’s refreshing to hear the director praise a newer mind in the industry.
Midsommar opened on July 3, 2019, and received mostly positive praise from critics. The film went on to gross $46 million and took director Ari Aster to that year’s award season. This was his follow-up to his smash debut Hereditary, starring Toni Collette.
A24 will release the 62-page book of ritual artwork that was used in Midsommar, alongside Ari Aster’s 171-minute director’s cut on Blu-ray. The illustrations featured in the book are from Ragnar Persson, the same artist who created the mesmerizing murals in the film. You can see an example of the work below:
Midsommar is the second film by Hereditary director Ari Aster. It stars Florence Pugh (Fighting With My Family), Jack Reynor (On the Basis of Sex), Will Poulter (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) and William Jackson Harper (The Good Place).
Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.
Originally published July 1, 2020. Updated December 10, 2022.
