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 image of disturbed Dani (Florence Pugh) beginning to smile as her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) meets his gruesome fate is one that remains in the viewer’s mind for some time. Incidentally Reynor starred as real-life scientist/occultist Jack Parson in the overlooked TV series Strange Angel (2018-19) and Björn Andrésen, who played Tadzio in Luchino Visconti’s Death in Venice (1971), plays a village elder in Midsommar where he faces a singularly unpleasant doom.
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982) – Sky Store
Time for a distinct change of pace, with Woody Allen’s very enjoyable riff on Ingmar Bergman’s Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), relocated to rural upstate New York in 1906. It’s a comedy soufflé lifted by an atypically bucolic setting, fantasy elements and a strong ensemble cast including Mia Farrow, José Ferrer, Julie Hagerty, Tony Roberts, Mary Steenburgen, and of course Allen himself. The director avoids his usual old-timey jazz choices for the score to go with an appropriate selection of classical airs by Felix Mendelssohn, including (naturally enough) ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (1826).
The Wicker Man (1973) – StudioCanal, Amazon Rent/Buy
Although set during the May Day festival, Robin Hardy’s magnificent The Wicker Man seems an obligatory inclusion here. The screenplay is by Sleuth’s Anthony Shaffer, adapted from David Pinner’s 1967 novel Ritual. Chock full of mordant humour and striking images alongside Paul Giovanni’s evocative score (which makes the movie a quasi-musical) and, famously, Britt Ekland’s stunt bum, The Wicker Man remains, (for now) the undisputed masterpiece of the Folk Horror genre. If you don’t already know the plot, I won’t spoil your appointment with the Wicker Man.
Midsommer (2003) and Solstice (2007) – ICON, Amazon Rent/Buy
Midsommer follows a group of Danish students celebrating their graduation in a Swedish forest during the summer solstice (why, one asks?). Here, they face a ghostly presence connected to the recent suicide of a friend. The US direct-to-video remake relocates the action to the Louisiana bayous. Midsommer received mostly favourable critical reviews; Daniel Myrick’s (co-director of The Blair Witch Project) version was something of a stinker, at least with the press.
Men (2022) – Amazon Prime, Amazon Buy
Although not specifically set at midsummer, Alex Garland’s haunting folk horror Men certainly has the feel of a movie to watch on the solstice. When bereaved Harper (Jessie Buckley) takes a much-needed break in a Herefordshire village after the ‘accidental’ death of needy husband James (Paapa Essiedu), she finds it impossible to escape the malign influence of the male sex, represented by Rory Kinnear in multiple roles – including an especially unpleasant teenager. Beautifully shot by Garland’s regular collaborator Rob Hardy, Men has already achieved cult status, also reviving interest in singer Lesley Duncan, whose poignant ‘Love Song’ provides the theme to a film that will surely linger in the memory.
Long Day’s Journey into Night (2018) – MUBI, Amazon Rent/Buy
No relation to Eugene O’Neill’s 1956 play, Chinese director Bi Gan’s (Kaili Blues) acclaimed elliptical fantasy-crime drama (and rumination on the nature of film itself) follows casino manager Luo’s (Huang Jue) summer solstice search for his lost love, female cat burglar Wan (Lust, Caution’s Tang Wei), who once gave him a mysterious green book capable of altering reality. The final 59 minutes of the film consist of one unbroken long virtuoso dreamlike sequence in 3D, something that chimes with the otherworldly aspects of midsummer’s night.
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) – Disney+, Amazon Rent/Buy
Michael Hoffman’s (The Last Station) star-studded adaptation of the Bard’s comedy is easily digestible Shakespeare for non-enthusiasts. Whether you care for the antics of Bottom (Kevin Kline) and friends, just let the staging and whimsy wash over you, with other members of the cast including Michelle Pfeiffer (Titania) Rupert Everett (Oberon), Stanley Tucci (Puck), Sam Rockwell (Flute), Calista Flockhart (Helena), David Strathairn (Theseus), Anna Friel (Hermia), Christian Bale (Demetrius), and Dominic West (Lysander). Like Allen’s movie, Midsummer Night’s Dream uses Felix Mendelssohn’s music to good effect, along with arias by Verdi, Rossini, Donizetti, and others.
Incidentally the late Kenneth Anger (who died last month) claimed to have played the Changeling Prince in Max Reinhart’s 1935 version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but this appears not to have been the case; child actress Sheila Brown in fact took the role. The film was the first to use Mendelssohn’s music for the score. If you enjoyed Hoffman’s movie, check out Kenneth Branagh’s equally sunny/starry adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing (1993).
The Believers (1987) – Amazon Rent/Buy
Directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy) in his lengthy career slide, horror picture The Believers concerns ritualistic child murders being conducted in New York by a sinister cult practising the dark side of ‘brujería’ (Hispanic magic). Can psychologist Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) save his son Chris (Harley Cross) from being sacrificed on the summer solstice?
Midsummer Madness (2007) – Netflix
Jāņi, an annual Latvian festival celebrating the summer solstice, which has ancient roots and still runs today, reminds us that the Baltic nation was one of the last pagan countries in Europe. The film – a comedy – tells six concurrent stories during the festivities, bound by the quest for the Latvian ‘magic fern’ that glows only on the longest day. The search for an American visitor’s newly discovered half-sister, stolen fuel, and the picaresque adventures of local hustlers gee the action along. The picture features a few faces familiar to UK audiences, including Orlando Wells (A Spy Among Friends) Victor McGuire (Bread), Dominique Pinon (Amélie) and Maria de Medeiros (Pulp Fiction).
The Ritual (2017) – Shudder, Amazon Rent/Buy; Apostle (2018) – Netflix; Kill List (2011) – StudioCanal, Amazon Rent/Buy
These three are not strictly summer solstice movies as such, but 2017’s The Ritual, the following year’s Apostle and 2011’s Kill List all play into the idea of human sacrifice often associated with the occasion, and all appear to take place outside of the winter months. The Ritual, set in Sweden, and Wales-based Apostle concern themselves with ‘real’ supernatural entities/Old Gods, while Kill List follows the machinations of a particularly nasty satanic cult with no actual revelation of Old Nick or his associated demons.
Two other pictures that may appeal to those craving a midsummer binge – Jacques Tourneur’s Night of the Demon (1957), which includes an opening credits scene set at Stonehenge, and the 2018 Canadian movie-within-a-movie horror Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made.