10 Most Paused Horror Movie Moments

Ari Aster is known for his bleak and unforgiving films, and yet he often finds ways to spin this approach in unexpected directions, taking something the audience knows and loves -- like, say, sunshine -- and twisting it out of shape. This is precisely where we find ourselves for his folk horror feature Midsommar, which takes bloody cult horror out into the bright light of a Swedish summer.

Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh), her miserable boyfriend and his college mates take a trip to the Hårga commune, to celebrate a once-in-90-years festival. The male members of the group wind up as human sacrifices in the final ceremony, meeting tragedy, terror and a horrific ending in their own unique ways.

However, prior to the film's harrowing first sequence, which sees Dani's family killed in a murder/suicide by her younger sister, the film opens with a whimsical mural. But it is not until second viewing, once the cat is out of the bag, that we fully realise the meaning and importance of the brief and eerie opening images. Read from left to right, the mural charts the action of Midsommar in order, from the death of Dani's family, through the killing of the commune's elders, human sacrifices, and Dani's recovery at the end.

To get the full scope of it requires a long pause and perhaps a magnifying glass, as there are dozens of small details spread throughout the picture. But don't blame us if things get a little weird.