Midsommar

[insert joke about being better than Fyre festival here...and you'd be right]

Midsommar is a movie I went into really blind, but I knew I wanted it to be that way. I knew it was directed by Ari Aster, who's responsible for last year's haunting, Hereditary. 

Now comes Midsommar, a film about a group of students who travel to Sweden with one of their Swedish friends to take part in an ancient festival of celebrating life, crops, family, etc. 

Much like Hereditary, this is a film designed to not so much jump-scare you, but haunt you far past you leave the theater. It's images will be seared into your mind and it'll leave you with an uneasy feeling for a while. I know it has me. 

This is an interesting film to do a review on because I was fully committed to giving it a perfect score at one point. For a lot of the reasons I'll explain below, everything was clicking. It reminded me of some truly incredible films like Annihilation, The Shining, and strangely enough a dash of Wes Anderson. Midsommar is a lot of things, but potentially "unique" most of all. 

So then why doesn't it have a perfect score at the bottom? What happened? In short, Midsommar's biggest problem - and really only problem if you can ignore some really unrealistic character decisions - is that it completely overindulges in itself. It's a 2 hour and 27 minute film that overstays its welcome by probably 20-30 minutes. Part of what I loved about Midsommar is that it really is a slow burn. It takes time setting up the environment, the characters, and more with longer shots that linger and some scenes that probably aren't holistically necessary. But I specifically remember sitting in the theater, realizing there was still quite a bit of movie to go and thinking "Ok, I don't think I'm going to give this a perfect score anymore." Particularly in that last half hour ending the film refuses to speed things up at all. Call it impatience if you want, but there were a handful of times near the end where I mentally heard myself saying "Yeah, we get the point". It's really a shame, though it certainly doesn't ruin the film or anything dramatic like that, but I was surprised to be contemplating giving this a perfect score and I wish it could have either A) earned that long run time or B) sped things up. 

I feel like my Wes Anderson comparison is fair.
Look at that house in the back. Hipster Swedes!

"OMG. The Fyre Fest guy
organized THIS festival too?!"

Beyond being entirely too long, Midsommar really is something to behold, though it's hard to say I recommend it for everyone. If you appreciate the craft of making a good film and you enjoy slow-burn, mysterious horror then you'll be fine. The first thing I'll praise about Midsommar is that it's truly a technical achievement. Its cinematography is the best of the year thus far, it's editing is sublime, with lots of long shots, and the original music that comes with it is completely fitting of Sweden, but haunting and driving nonetheless. It makes great use of colors and characters within its frames and is clearly several notches above other horror films in terms of technical quality. My first reaction after seeing this (and understanding that Ari Aster is now 2 for 2) is that I want him to do a sci-fi or action film. 

It's because of this technical proficiency that I know Midsommar will haunt me for some time. The horror of it all is slowly unraveled and its done in broad daylight. Again, you have to get past some stupid character decisions here - there's a very clear point where anyone in their right mind would leave that place - but these long lingering shots, sometimes of intensely gruesome things, really put a damper on things, exactly in the way Aster intends. Again, it should be reiterated that this is not your jump scare horror or action horror. This is slowly unraveling mental horror. It'll sit with you for days, weeks, longer (I know I still come back to Hereditary from time to time) because of its imagery and overall happenings. In this regard, Aster is the master of his craft and Midsommar is the master of creepiness with bouts of intense gore. Seriously, someone started dry heaving in my theater...

The last element that makes Midsommar so successful is well written and acted characters. The supporting cast each has a distinct personality and traits, some provide humor that's much needed at times, and it's clear that they're fairly well rounded. Florence Pugh plays the main character of Dani and is nothing short of incredible here. Much like Toni Collette was on the awards circuit last year, I imagine Pugh will be too. Her Dani is complicated, having just experienced heavy tragedy, and her relationship with her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) is a sad one. He's an absolute tool and she's overly apologetic to him and it plays at the core of the film as they experience this festival together. Pugh is able to so easily call upon authentic emotions, it's astounding and even in the final scenes of the film you're likely to be blown away by her range as an actress, even without any words. 

[in deeply ominous voice] "Ashes, ashes we all fall DOWN"

I should reiterate, Midsommar isn't for everyone. Can't handle gore? Yeah, don't even try. Hard for you to sit for 2.5 hours? Probably going to feel like longer for you. Tough guy that's never been scared by a movie? Ok, bro, but bet you'll "claim" the same reaction here. For those who are willing to invest the time (during and how you'll be thinking about it after), Midsommar is incredible. Perhaps its length will grow to be less of an issue over time as I'm sure this ages into a classic horror film.

CONS

• Few key points where character logic is thrown out the door in order to keep the plot moving
• Completely over indulges in itself for the last half hour and loses some of its effect in the process. Should have been a 2 hour-ish film

PROS

• Gorgeous cinematography and framing of shots with lots of color and lots of length to them. Many, both normal or gruesome, will stick with me for a while
• Feels genuinely unique with lots of inspiration from very different places. Didn't feel like really anything I'd seen before
• Incredibly effective mental horror that will haunt you far past the film's credits. The moments of gore are intense, you've been warned
• Aster's talent as a writer and a director shine through
• Fitting and eerie original score that plays a large role
• Stellar cast and performances with Florence Pugh giving one of the best performances of the year so far
• Well timed and balanced humor
• Gripping, thoughtful, intense, and very well made. Midsommar is worth it if you're there for the right reasons

Rath's Review Score | 9/10