Review: Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar (2019)

It's a bit of am odd paradox that I think that Ari Aster is one of the finest directors and paragons of modern horror, while at the same time recognizing that I haven't been able to get fully on-board with either of the films he has made thus far. I appreciate the rave reviews that were behind Hereditary, however, as a full package, I felt the film lacked a certain something (maybe I'll dive into this in a full post later...). And, in a quite similar vein, I absolutely wanted to love Midsommar - and there was a ton that I did thoroughly enjoy - but the total end package of the film, again, left me wanting something a little more.

Midsommar is about a group of friends who travel to Sweden to observe a summer festival that turns out to be more of a horrifying pagan-cult celebration. It takes a lot of cues from the classic film, The Wicker Man, but smartly does not rely upon the predecessor and it quickly creates a unique story unto itself. Foremost in the group is Dani (Florence Pugh, who is remarkable here) who recently suffered unspeakable tragedy in her life and she uses the trip as a means to get away from her trauma. With her on the trip is her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), and friends, Josh (William Jackson Harper), Mark (Will Poulter), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) who is their entryway into the community. Not much more can be said than that without spoiling the film, but, as one can surmise, things eventually take a dark turn during the festival...

With regards to my review, I'll firstly try to explain my original point above. Writer/director, Aster, is unquestionably an auteristic director. When you see his films you can see that he has a complete vision for his films - one that runs through all aspects of filmmaking, from cinematography and editing, to colouring, performance, costume and set decoration. This is an admirable trait, and it is equally clear that Aster knows what he is doing in all of this and that he has a unique voice in the industry. There are aspects of his films that, as a film student, literally had my mouth drop. The full nightmarish opening sequence to Midsommar, the moving/upside-down shot as the car drives along the highway towards the 'upside-down' world of the festival, the ongoing hypnotic blurring of the scenery, and much of the generally superb cinematography of the Swedish festival. For the first hour-and-a-half to two-hours I was fully engrossed in the film and loving every minute of it. But at a certain point later on the film slows down and begins to veer into some more predictable story beats. When the film should have been escalating and building to a crescendo I found that its methodical pace, which worked for the first half, became a bit of a detriment. The pacing, as a whole, is not unlike that of Kubrick's, and, perhaps, it is just my unfortunate modern adrenaline-seeking sensibilities that wanted things to ramp up more towards the end. The film is, without a doubt, quite disturbing at times. There are scenes and imagery that will stick with you for a long time; as a matter of fact, a lot of the overall vibes of the film are thoroughly unsettling. The thought has crossed my mind that it may just be that the negative feeligns were from the unearthly uneasiness that the film set into my gut leaving a bad taste in my mouth and needing me to take a shower - if that was the case, then kudos again to you Mr. Aster. This is a film that will definitely require another viewing soon to see if my views change (which I do think they will). Perhaps the extended cut that has recently been released will be just what the doctor ordered... For those that enjoy horror, especially of the old-ilk, I highly recommend seeing Midsommar. I am very interested to hear from a larger pool what other film aficionados think of it.