‘MIDSOMMAR’ Review

With director Ari Aster’s Hereditary destroying horror and general audiences last year, we didn’t have to wait too long for his follow-up, Midsommar. As someone who wasn’t totally won over by his previous film, I still recognized the power in last year’s tragic family nightmare.

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Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young couple that has been together for most of their collegiate years but Christian is getting some pressure from his friends in addition to having some doubts himself. Before Christian can take action, Dani’s life is altered by tragedy. It is this event that hangs more guilt on Christian as he invites Dani to go with him and his group of three friends on a trip to Sweden. One of Christian’s friends, Pelle, has invited the guys to to celebrate Midsommar in his native village. Of course, thing don’t go as expected.

Midsommar is a strong sophomore effort and one that I enjoyed more than Hereditary. However, it may not be as frightening for some of the fans who found his previous effort scary. If anything, it is more comical. While the film definitely has some very shocking moments (especially in the opening which is heart wrenching) that will linger in your brain for a bit, it feels like a comeuppance fairy tale. In a weird way, it feels like a lighter (no pun intended) Hostel. Male toxicity is embodied by Christian’s friend Mark (Will Poulter). While wonderment and curiosity is embodied by Josh (William Jackson Harper). Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) is the bridge between the foreign land and our American characters getting accustomed to strange customs. Christian’s faults of male gaze and entitlement also come into play toward the end of the film and Aster paints an environment that if these characters do not pay it the respect it deserves, it may destroy them.

William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor

Pugh pulls out a pretty demanding performance and is definitely the highlight here other than Aster’s direction, story and visuals. It will always be compared to The Wicker Man because of the content of the film and the basic plotline of having foreigners go to a place where there is a community with strong beliefs in a religion. Personally, I feel that it is a film that is separate from that comparison as it feels by the end of a character possibly fulfilling a set path in destiny as opposed to being used as a pawn for sacrifice.

Even though the film is over two hours, Aster and his editor Lucian Johnston have paced the film with rarely any lull. He is a director is in total control and that was apparent with Hereditary. Midsommar may be a challenging one for some of his new fans but it may further concrete him as a director not to be ignored, especially in this genre. While he has teased that this will be his last horror film, I don’t think that is going to be true nor do I hope it becomes that way. He has been able to create some very unique films that have injected some fresh outlook on the genre.