Ari Aster’s follow up to last year’s Hereditary, Midsommar follows a young woman, Dani (Florence Pugh) who travels to Sweden with her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor) , and friends to be a part of the midsummer festival celebration in their friend’s small community.
Like Hereditary, Midsommar is very much a slow burn horror film. With a run time that’s over two hours long, Midsommar can feel unnecessarily drawn out in parts. You do a lot of waiting for the good, creepy stuff to happen, but most of the time you never actually see it. Instead you have to piece the context clues together and decide for yourself what this strange pagan commune is up to. For some, including myself, this works, and still leaves you on the edge of your seat the whole time, but for most, the movie will seem like a waste of time where barely anything happened.
Between Midsommar and Hereditary, you can clearly see a distinct style of story telling, and film making coming from Ari Aster. There are similarities between the score, the shots, and the psychological, family, and cult related aspects of the stories.
Midsommar is full of gross, odd, awkward, hilarious and anxiety inducing moments that constantly keep you guessing what’s going to happen next. The visuals of the film, most of which are light, airy, and full of bright colors, are stunning.
There is one scene where Dani seemingly goes from being at peace, happy, and having fun, one second to terrified the next, or even simultaneously, and I think that’s how the whole film makes the audience feel. The creepy, unusual events taking place in this community, and their beautiful surroundings, and friendliness, cause your emotions to be all over the place. My friend and I even found ourselves sympathizing with the commune several times, as these outsiders made fun of and questioned their sacred traditions.
Fan reactions to Hereditary were extreme. You pretty much either thought is was the best thing ever, or the worst, and I think reactions to Midsommar will be the same way.
My rating of Midsommar: ★★★★
Follow me on Letterboxd!
Follow The Horror Syndicate on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, for exclusive content, and contests!
