Where Is 'Midsommar' Set in Real Life?
'Midsommar' (above via A24) might be Swedish but it was filmed in Budakeszi, Hungary (below via Verőczi Zoltán) Folk horror has experienced a kind of renaissance of late. While we caught green shoots of it in 2006's "The Wicker Man" (itself a remake of the 1973 classic), the genre's resurgence really kicked into high gear through A24, the indie studio behind contemporary classics like "The Witch" (2015), "Hereditary" (2018), and "Midsommar" (2019). By definition, folk horror pits protagonists not against a solitary monster but an entire community, with customs and beliefs at odds with the world. At the same time, it's a genre that thrives on cultural unease and fear of the collective, which could easily devolve into stereotyping and prejudice. So, maybe it was for the best to have "Midsommar" fictionalize its setting. Although the "Midsommar" village shall remain fictional, Hårga, Sweden is a real place, an...
