The Third Day: How Episode 1 Sets Up The Show’s Version Of Midsommar – Screen Rant

HBO's The Third Day episode 1, "Friday - The Father", introduces an eerie festival set up that's very reminiscent of Ari Aster's Midsommar.

WARNING! Spoilers forThe Third Dayepisode 1

HBO's new thriller,The Third Day, introduced a plot familiar to Ari Aster's 2019 folk horror movie,Midsommar, in episode 1. In episode 1, "Friday - The Father", Sam (Jude Law) ends up on Osea Island, a remote village that's separated by a causeway that can only be accessed at certain times due to tidal shifts. When the tide is in, the road that separates the island from the rest of the mainland is completely underwater.

Sam seems to be dealing with a lot of personal struggles. Not only is there a sequence where he floats what appears to be a child's shirt down a river, but he starts to experience vividand increasingly violenthallucinations once he starts to spend more time on the island. He's essentially trapped; he is so concerned with the general well-being of a young local girl, Epona (Jessie Ross) after he saved her from a hanging injury that he doesn't make it back to the road in time. Though Sam receives a warm welcome from local barkeeps and innkeepers, it's obvious there's something very wrong on Osea Island.

Related: Everything We Know So Far About The Third Day

This feeling of foreboding and general unease is well known not only to horror movies, but specifically the folk horror sub-genre. In Ari Aster'sMidsommar, a group of friends travel willingly to a remote village in Sweden, the ancestral commune of their friend Pelle. Their intent is to study the people, known as the Hrga, during their mid-summer celebrations. What transpires is a sun-soaked nightmaresenicide, murder, strange mating rituals, and more. Sam speaks briefly to Epona about the village on Osea Island, and notices that some people are dressed in interesting and foreign costumes; she explains that they are preparing for a local festival, one that is open to outsiders for the very first time.

According to episode 1's synopsis from HBO, the locals on Osea Island are "preparing for a curious annual festival". Other than the costumes that are on display, and seem to be very rooted in ancient traditions, specifically related to Celtic and Druidic practice, Sam is also informed of a strange ritual where people literally "cut out" evil. Though it seems to be mimicked at the time, with people in masks snapping scissors at a boy, it's implied that perhaps this could become a more literal practice later in the show. According to Epona, these beings are called the Sajora, and their job is to "sniff out evil"; apparently, they come from the sea. While this definitely sounds like local legend and folklore, Epona's ominous warning to Sam that he "wouldn't believe whatthese people are capable of" is definitely a sign of things to come.

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The Third Day: How Episode 1 Sets Up The Show's Version Of Midsommar - Screen Rant

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero