We saw Ari Aster’s Midsommar last night, and I am so glad we did. It was everything I had hoped for and so much more. At 2h 27m, you kind of have to make a whole big thing of it, but honestly there wasn’t a single wasted moment. It all went toward furthering the story and/or building tension.
Here’s the synopsis from A24’s website:
“Dani and Christian are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing. From the visionary mind of Ari Aster comes a dread-soaked cinematic fairytale where a world of darkness unfolds in broad daylight.”
Visually, the movie was equal parts beautiful and incredibly, disturbingly awful. Like in Hereditary there isn’t a lot of gore, but what there it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in substance. What you get is both gnarly and shocking. As usual, I am wary of giving too much away, but especially so here – this movie is fantastic, and it deserves to be watched without prior influence.
But I do have a few final thoughts:
1. Florence Pugh (Dani) is a fucking goddess. She is incredible. Her performance is my favorite part of this movie, although there were many other things competing for that honor.
2. Midsommer reminds me of what would have happened if Stanley Kubrick made The Wicker Man (I think that Shawn might have actually coined that comparison, but I’m co-opting it because it is so right on).
3. The set design, costume design, and visual effects are GORGEOUS. I will leave you with just a few screenshots below.
4. GO SEE THIS MOVIE WHILE IT IS STILL IN THEATERS – IT’S WORTH THE PRICE OF ADMISSION TO SEE THE INSANITY PLAY OUT ON A LARGE SCREEN.
