10 Horror Movies That Mock You For Paying Attention

If Ari Aster's devastating directorial debut Hereditary proved anything, it's that he wants the audience to pay close attention, and his follow-up Midsommar continued to cement that fact in a deeply twisted way.

An epic, densely-layered folk horror film, Midsommar actually unfurls the broad strokes of its plot in its opening shot for attentive viewers, by way of a gorgeously disturbing mural which appears on-screen for around 20 seconds.

The mural depicts the deaths of protagonist Dani's (Florence Pugh) family, her grief as she struggles to cope, Swedish commune member Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) acting as the Pied Piper luring her and her friends to "paradise," and several of the rituals invoked throughout the film.

Perhaps most telling is the creepy smile on the face of the sun, which ultimately looks incredibly similar to Dani's deranged smile in the final shot of the movie.

Though it's of course an abstract representation of the story, anyone who waited until the movie's home video release was able to hit the pause button and get the inside track on the plot within the first half-minute.

Considering it's a film best watched with as little knowledge as possible about the narrative, though, viewers might ultimately regret allowing their curiosity to get the better of them. But Aster clearly knew exactly what he was doing.