Florence Pugh’s Folk Horror Favorite ‘Midsommar’ Is Heading to Hulu Just in Time for Spooky Season

Some horror movies get under your skin in the dark, and some do it in broad daylight with flower crowns. Florence Pugh’s ‘Midsommar’ has long been the poster child for the second kind. The film is a folk horror written and directed by Ari Aster, with a cast that also includes Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter.

The setup is deceptively simple. A couple travels to Sweden to visit a friend’s rural hometown for its fabled midsummer festival, and the idyllic retreat slowly turns into a violent, bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult. The festival at the center of it all is said to occur only once every 90 years, which Josh treats as a once in a lifetime research opportunity.

Now the film is landing somewhere new for horror fans to stream. Hulu’s October lineup lists Midsommar among its titles arriving on October 1, which makes it one of the first scares of the season. It joins a Huluween slate that includes Hereditary and Barbarian, plus newer releases like the AI thriller Soulm8te.

The timing feels intentional. TV Guide notes that Hulu is packing its library with horror, from ‘Barbarian’ and ‘Hereditary’ to ‘The Substance.’ Putting Aster’s two best known films on the same service gives subscribers a ready made double feature.

It also helps that ‘Midsommar’ has always had an unusual origin story. Aster was first approached to make a slasher film set in Sweden, an idea he initially rejected, and he ultimately built the story around a central couple on the verge of a breakup. He has said the film was inspired by the end of a long relationship, and that Dani’s experience is a fictionalized version of his own. That emotional core is a big reason the movie plays as much like a breakup drama as a horror story.

The film’s performance backs that up. It grossed about 48 million dollars and earned positive reviews, with praise for Aster’s direction and Pugh’s work. NPR critic Justin Chang called her performance quietly mesmerizing.

Pugh has also been open about how far she went for the role. On the ‘Off Menu’ podcast she said she put herself through difficult situations to get into character, while praising Aster as a director. She has also pointed to the work behind the cult itself, explaining that the Swedish cast rehearsed for weeks so they all moved and spoke in exactly the same way.

For anyone who has only watched ‘Midsommar’ once, a rewatch on Hulu is a good excuse to catch the details hiding in the sunshine. Dani’s slow smile at the end remains one of the most debated moments in modern horror, so do you read that final grin as a triumph, a tragedy, or something far more unsettling?