I thoroughly enjoyed last year's film 'Hereditary' from director Ari Aster. It was a surreal nightmare with many layers hiding both underneath and sometimes in plain sight. This year comes his next film 'Midsommar' a visually stunning slow burn with wonderful direction, creepy atmosphere and unsettling nature. Though the film does come with severe flaws that keep it from topping his last entry but overall it's certainly on par. The film's story concerns Dani (Florence Pugh) who suffers a great tragedy after which her boyfriend and his buddies invite her to a festival in Sweden. Once the group arrives, they are warmly greeted by a small commune of happy folks who seem to be hiding a sinister secret.
If you folks have seen the 1973 film 'The Wicker Man' (or know of the unfortunate remake thanks to internet culture) then you will likely feel that the story of 'Midsommar' is a tad familiar. The film takes much inspiration from that film but they also have used the higher qualities of it here as well. The commune never once acts in a overtly evil manner with constant scowling at the outsiders like so many cliche cult films tend to do. Rather the tension comes from just how warm, happy, and overall nice these people are to the group (until that final act of course). This choice of direction along with the beautiful cinematography and set designs makes one feel that they are truly in another world entirely and it's by far the film's biggest strength.
The visual effects are also very impressive but blink and you may not notice them at all the first time you view it. Subtle changes happen in the background, foreground, and even to various props & costumes. It becomes fun to find these 'Where's Waldo' moments and really shows off the imagination Ari Aster has. For those looking for the gruesome moments, 'Midsommar' contains some strong moments of brutality and bizarre sexuality that I won't spoil here but needless to say you won't forget these moments once you see them for yourself.
The film's themes I feel are a bit easier to understand than 'Hereditary' for better and worse. Issues of how one deals with grief, picking up the pieces, and starting a new life clean of all the things that were keeping you down are essentially the film's three act structure making for a more coherent film. At times however, this can become a bit pretentious or too on the nose which can give mixed signals to the audience. The film's biggest flaw by far is sadly our main players who feel like they belong in an Eli Roth film. They're completely unlikable, whiny, disrespectful, and overall unpleasant and yes I understand that some are supposed to be this way but even our protagonist displays these traits, which makes it harder to be invested in their progression.
The film is also a bit too long, running in at almost three hours which is pretty insane for a horror movie these days. The first act really slogs and those moments of characters being total assholes are on full display for the majority of this portion. Some trimming here and there could work wonders here. While the movie doesn't really have that same slap in the face shock value of 'Hereditary' and the characters and running time become an issue throughout, 'Midsommar' is another great entry from Ari Aster overall. This guy is going to go far in the horror industry even if his films generally don't appeal to everyone. Divisive films make for much better conversation in my opinion and this one will get you and your friends talking once you leave the cineplex. Check it out.
8/10
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