The Witch Movie Project: The Wicker Man & Midsommar

Folk horror didn't start with Midsommar. It started in 1973 with The Wicker Man, and this episode traces that lineage through two films that ask the same question: what happens when belief systems collide?

Just Blane and Courtney Pearl break down Christopher Lee's favorite performance, the real mythology hidden in every frame, and why these movies work as both horror and commentary on community. The Wicker Man presents Sergeant Howie's Christian faith against an island's pagan rituals. Midsommar flips the script: instead of resistance, Danny finds belonging in a community that offers what her own family never could.

Both films are built on genuine folklore. The maypole, the Wheel of the Year, the runes carved into every surface, the Ättestupa ritual, these are rooted in actual Nordic and Celtic tradition, even when the movies push them toward the horrific. Courtney decodes the symbolism frame by frame: the Othala rune meaning home and inheritance, the costume design that transforms Danny from outsider to accepted member, the foreshadowing woven into murals and songs.

The real tension isn't supernatural. It's about isolation, belonging, and whether community can justify anything. One character resists. One surrenders. Both endings leave you unsettled.

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