In the opening of the talk, Doughty jokingly pointed out that her parents said they hadn’t really “seen the signs” of her inclination toward the morbid as she was growing up. In one instance, she mentioned finding a diary from her childhood in which the sole entry was a celebration of Halloween finally having arrived.

Largely billed as horror that takes place in broad daylight, Midsommar was director and screenwriter Ari Aster’s first heavy-hitting film following Hereditary. In this collaborative review, we hear from all three founding writers on their perspectives in the resurgence of folk-horror.

The four-act structure and the subsequent slide of one woman, living alone, into the relentlessly grinding maw of social expectations, culture, and the Old High German titular “witch” (Hagazussa) concept was a deeply moving joy.