Midsommar is the second film by cult (no pun intended) hit director Ari Aster. This film stars Dani, played by Florence Pugh. She recently lost her parents and her sister, and her relationship with her boyfriend (Jack Reynor) is fractured. As a way to help her feel included and not isolated, he invites her to a trip to Sweden with his friends (Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, and Will Poulter). The week they go happens to be their mid-summer festival in the village that Blomgren's character, Pelle, grew up. However, what starts as a time of pagan traditions, friendly faces, and exhilarating drug trips turns into a nightmare, where the true cult-ish nature of the village rears its head.
This was my most anticipated movie of the entire summer, and it all has to do with Ari Aster. Aster wrote and directed the 2018 film Hereditary, which was one of my favorite movies of that year. Hereditary was such a chilling experience, with great performances, writing, characters, cinematography, and scares. Few movies unnerved me like Hereditary did, and certain scenes stick out so much. They are burned into my mind to this day. That's only one reason why I was excited to see Midsommar. Not only did the trailers look great, but I was excited due to the visual presentation the trailers promised. A horror movie taking place almost exclusively in the daytime is a rare experience, and the film looked so beautiful and unique as a result. I was pumped to see this thing.
After I saw Midsommar for the first time, I genuinely did not know how to feel. It got under my skin so much that it clouded my judgement, and I was not about to make any concrete thoughts on the film with that lack of open-mindedness. The following week, I went to go see it again. I had to find out if what I saw was either really good or just madness without a message. And after seeing it twice, I have to say... I love this movie. This is such a weird, bizarre film, and it is executed beautifully.
Ari Aster made a style for himself with Hereditary by making depressing, deliberately slow dramas with horror elements. Those horror elements are not so much intending to be scary, as their purpose is to be creepy and unnerving, getting under the skin of the viewer. Midsommar continues that trend in glorious fashion. The story is very well crafted, dealing with themes of co-dependency, isolation within a group, and trust. The way the film deals with those themes are quite complex, offering a multi-layered look at how the characters interact with each other and the cult that they have been brought into. It never offers any clear answers, and I appreciate that. It makes the viewers think about what they saw and forces them to analyze everything that happened. That's a big reason why I waited to write this review until after the second viewing. After that second viewing, I understand the story a lot more, and I find the way the story is written to be pretty genius. It's shocking, clever, twisted, and engrossing from minute one. And yes, the horror elements are pretty effective as well. There's nothing in here that's outright scary, nor is there anything as shocking as in Hereditary, but this film exceeds in crafting some gross, unsettling visuals that have been burned into my mind for the past few weeks.
However, the biggest reason why the story works so well is the characters. Each character has a distinct personality, and the chemistry between the five leads is excellent. Plus, their reactions to everything that happens at the cult are very genuine, and they make sense based on each of their individual personalities. The relationship between Dani and Christian is the best part of the entire movie because of how real all their conversations are. I completely bought that they were a couple and that their relationship was on life support. Some of my favorite scenes are when these two are having conversations, each one showcasing how flawed their relationship is with each other, as well as how flawed they are as individual people. It's all incredibly fascinating to watch, and it made me care about the characters until the very end.
Of course, what made me care about the characters even more are the stellar performances, particularly Florence Pugh. Florence Pugh gives one of the best performances of the year. The way she conveys true emotional anguish is breathtaking. The chemistry she has with her co-stars is great, and they all play off each other very well. Florence is so good in this film that she will get snubbed for any kind of award contention, just like Toni Collette in Hereditary. She is a true star, and I can't wait to see what else she does.
The cult itself is also fascinating. Watching them perform their rituals throughout the festival is engrossing at every minute. The costumes, the architecture, the dances, the chants... they are all mesmerizing. And once the twisted elements happen, there's something elegant and beautiful about the way the order of events happen. The cult is a character, and it's one that makes the film even better because of it.
What truly makes Midsommar stands out are the technical aspects. This film is gorgeous; easily the prettiest movie I've seen all year. It uses the daytime element to its advantage, giving us gorgeous landscapes with beautiful pops of color. Every shot feels so open and alive. And I like the way the camera is used in the film. There are some neat uses of cinematography here, whether it's a simple placement of the camera, or how the camera pans in a room, or how the camera shows a first person view of a car. It's incredibly creative, and it adds to the visual flare. There are also some really cool uses of special effects in the drug trip scenes. I've never done drugs before, but the trips in this film feel a lot closer to reality than other dramatizations of drug trips. The scenes are weird, psychedelic, stressful, and great to watch.
I think my only real complaint about this film has to do with the third act. Like I said earlier, Ari Aster crafts a deliberate slow burn here with its pacing, letting the film take its time to develop its characters, tone, setting, themes, and horrors. It's very effective and manages to not be boring at all. In fact, I wouldn't even say that it starts to drag... at least, until the third act. Without spoiling anything, the third act spends a lot of time on certain rituals taking place, and each segment seems to go on for too long. It's effective in building its atmosphere to a climax, but a lot of what's shown is too much. I think a solid 10-15 could be shaved off from the final act alone, and I think it would have been easier to swallow. This was a thought that came to me on both viewings.
I grew to love Midsommar after my second viewing. It's weird, disturbing, clever, and fascinating to watch, full of great performances, writing, cinematography, music, and themes. I still prefer Hereditary over Midsommar, but I can't deny the impact Midsommar left on me. Like Hereditary did in 2018, no movie has gotten under my skin in 2019 like Midsommar did (at least so far). Now keep in mind- this movie is not for everybody. Some will find it boring, some will find it gross, and some will find it too weird to enjoy. If you fall in any of these camps, I do not blame you at all. In fact, I was leaning towards the "too weird to enjoy" camp after my first viewing. However, I can't deny the artistry that went into this. It's not perfect, but it's absolutely riveting from the first seconds to the final seconds. This is easily the most memorable film I've seen all year, and I can't wait to see it again.
Final Score: 8/10 (Great)
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