We discuss 10 Movies like Midsommar you must watch. Add these well-recommended horror films to your watch list.
Ari Aster’s Midsommar was released in 2019 to critical acclaim, particularly regarding Florence Pugh’s unforgettable performance. The horror-thriller grossed enough at the box office to justify its budget but has endured the test of time so far, because Pugh has since increased her profile and because writer-director Ari Aster continues to be relevant in the indie-horror conversation. If you are looking for some of the scariest movies like Midsommar of the past few years, you are in the right place! Here are ten of them.
10 Movies like Midsommar you must watch
It Follows (2015)
David Robert Mitchell wrote and directed It Follows, centered around Maika Monroe’s Jay, a 19-year-old who starts to register supernatural activities after a seemingly-innocent sexual encounter. To get rid of it, she must have sex with someone else. The movie was first screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014 and was released in theaters in early 2015; it was received with critical acclaim, grossing enough money to make up for its low budget.
The Witch (2015)
2015’s The Witch was the world’s introduction to two of the most established people in the business right now. Robert Eggers made his feature debut with this 17th-century horror film that will haunt your nightmares in ways you don’t expect initially; Eggers would go on to direct The Lighthouse, The Northman, and is now filming Nosferatu. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy in his breakout role, which landed her subsequent parts in Split, The New Mutants, and especially The Queen’s Gambit, which earned her an Emmy nomination. But besides these two reasons, The Witch is still among the top scariest movies of the past 10 years, much like Midsommar.
Raw (2016)
Julia Ducournau (Titane) directed this critically-acclaimed French film from 2016 that is not for anybody’s stomach. It follows Justine’s (Garance Marillier) slow descent into cannibalism after she starts attending veterinary school. It is very well shot and scripted but contains some grotesque sequences that will turn off many people. But if you are into that stuff, which Midsommar also plays around with, you might enjoy Raw very much.
Get Out (2017)
It might seem like this list is about indie-horror directors in their feature debut knocking out critically-acclaimed movies, but that was not the intention. Get Out was the first movie Jordan Peele, of sketch-comedy fame, wrote and directed, and it might still be his best. If you’re looking for disturbing movies like Midsommar, Get Out may be just for you. Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, who is about to meet his girlfriend’s parents and is extremely worried about how they will react when they learn their daughter is dating a Black man. It is a fascinating exploration of the racial dynamics in the US that turns into an extremely disturbing and scary film.
Hereditary (2018)
Much like The Witch was for Eggers and Get Out for Jordan Peele, Hereditary was the feature directorial debut that put the name of Ari Aster on the map, one of our most revered indie directors right now. It stars Toni Colette, who gave a performance that caused an outrage when it wasn’t brought up by the Oscars upon announcing their nominations that year, as the mother of a family who recently lost her mom. In their attempt to deal with the grief they suffer, they start to tinker with the supernatural, which quickly leads to disturbing experiences.
The Lighthouse (2018)
If the name sounds familiar by now, it might be because it was mentioned in a previous entry of the list. The Lighthouse was Robert Eggers’ directorial follow-up to The Witch, and while it may not be as scary, it is definitely a very disturbing movie, like Midsommar. It follows the slow descent into chaos by two lighthouse keepers, played by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, who live on their own on a remote island in the late 19th century. You will know you are in for a movie like you haven’t seen before within the first ten minutes, but we won’t be giving that away just yet.
Us (2019)
Speaking of disturbing movies like Midsommar, here goes another directorial follow-up, this time from Jordan Peele. Us stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke as the Wilsons, who take their kids on a small vacation to Santa Cruz with friends of them, the Tyler family (Elisabeth Moss and Tim Heidecker). But things start to get out of hand when four people break into the house where they are staying, and even worse, they realize the intruders look exactly like them, but they appear to be completely malformed.
The Empty Man (2020)
The Empty Man was directed by David Prior and stars James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, and Stephen Root, among others. While the film is rather recent, it was initially rejected by audiences, despite an overall good response from critics, and is already generating a cult following. The story follows James Badge Dale as a former detective who starts investigating the mysterious missing-person case of a young girl and quickly discovers a disturbing group trying to summon a supernatural entity that most thought was mythical.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Halina Reijn’s Bodies Bodies Bodies stars Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova, Myha’la Herrold, Chase Sui Wonders, Rachel Sennott, Lee Pace, and Pete Davidson as a group of young rich people invited to a hurricane party at a remote family house. After they start playing a friendly murder-mystery game, things start to get real, and what started as a friendly way to spend time and get high on drugs and alcohol quickly turns into a slasher and literal backstabbing story. The film has been praised by critics and audiences alike.
Barbarian (2022)
Georgina Campbell plays Tess, a young woman who rents an Airbnb home but realizes that it’s been double-booked upon arrival. After thinking about it, she decides to stay for the night, a decision she will soon regret; the home contains a dark secret that is much more menacing than another guest. The film, released in late 2022, received high critical acclaim and grossed almost $50 million at the box office on a low $4M budget.
Do you have any other recommendations for Movies like Midsommar? Let us know!
