What do you get when you mix the obnoxious (in a good way) comedy of Wet Hot American Summer with the gory trauma of Ari Aster’s Midsommar? A shockingly great mashup, apparently. Of course, that’s not what you would think, but thanks to the superb, detailed editing of thatmattcaronguy, the mock trailer below is like a whole new movie. But, hey, think about it: They’re both set in small communities in the summer; they’re both about breakups (and hooking up); and they’re both completely fucking insane. Honestly, they might not be that different at all.
The Haxan Cloak’s eerie score does a lot of heavy lifting in transforming Wet Hot’s talent show, David Hyde Pierce’s space fascinations, and Christopher Meloni’s “new way” into something much more ominous. The fact that both movies are big on emotions—Midsommar with grief and horror, Wet Hot American Summer with its comedic absurdity—helps, too. The YouTube channel has more pairings, but this might be the pièce de résistance. It also solidifies that fact that yes, maybe Ari Aster could do comedy.