Stephen Arnell

Midsummer movies: what to watch on the longest day

15 films to mark the solstice

  • From Spectator Life
Florence Pugh in Midsommar, 2019 (Photo by Gabor Kotschy, Courtesy of A24)

The summer solstice (which falls today) has been a time of celebration and religious rituals since the dawn of mankind. Some associate the event with neo-druidic gatherings at Stonehenge and the like, others with ghastly human sacrifices to placate the Old Gods – while many see the solstice as simply a time to celebrate the longest day of the year with (relatively) innocent folkloric revels. But if you’d rather stay home and watch a film to mark the occasion, here are 15 worth your time.

Midsommar (2019) – Netflix, Amazon Rent/Buy

Ari Aster’s (Hereditary and upcoming Beau is Afraid) folk horror picture is very much in the vein of The Wicker Man (1973) – but with additional lashings of graphic violence and foreboding. When a group of entitled US students accept an invitation from a Swedish friend, Pelle, to attend a midsummer festival at his ancestral commune in Sweden’s remote Hälsingland, you know things aren’t going to end well. The

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