MIDSOMMAR REVIEW
Starring: Florence Pugh
Directed By: Ari Aster (Hereditary)
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours 27 minutes
Midsommar, or Midsummer, is the sophomore effort from Hereditary director Ari Aster.Hereditary was one of my top ten movies of last year.I loved it, despite it’s rather unusual comical ending.Midsommar will be more polarizing than that movie.I’m still not sure where I stand on it yet.
The movie tells the story of Dani and Christian.Played by Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor respectively. Both are grad school students trying to finish their schooling.The two are a couple on the rocks.Christian doesn’t really have the guts to break up with Dani, so he sticks it out.He is uncompassionate to her needs.Emotionally unavailable to her.But he keeps her around because Dani’s been though too much to cut bait.Christian would like a monster if he dumped her.
One of Christian’s friends is Swedish and invites the gang back to Sweden for the traditional midsummer festival in his small village, and well, once they arrive nothing is what it seems.
The movie devolves into a horror mystery.Fans of traditional slasher movies probably won’t like this movie.Fans of the more artsy style of horror that’s become more popular in the last five years should love this entry.Midsommar is weird, drawn out, and disguises itself until the very end.
There’s good and bad with this movie.I’ll start with the positive cause I’m a positive guy.The movie is expertly made.Well shot.Bright, colorful, we don’t often get that in a horror film.The characters are well established and their motivations are clear by movie’s end.There’s a carefully crafted narrative, beautiful imagery, and enough WTF moments to get you from the beginning to the end.The movie is good, the actors do a great job, it feels like you know our main four or five characters.Quite a few violent surprised, the movie was initially set out to be a “torture porn” film ala Saw or Hostel when it was first conceived, but then calmed down to the elevated horror movie we have today.
That said, the movie is over two and a half hours long, I could easily cut thirty minutes from this film and still garner the same effect.Many scenes are boring and redundant.It’s my biggest takeaway from the movie.The length.Not a character, not a death scene, not the message of the movie.I think of the run time when I think about this movie.But it sets a mood, it fleshes out our characters even more, so there’s an argument to keep the movie as is.Director Ari Aster said the initial cut was four hours long, I thank him for being more selective on the next round of cuts.It also has a peculiar ending, like his previous film Hereditary.I get what the ending of this movie is saying.But if you’ve seen the movie, just admit it’s weird.Look deep down in your heart, you know it’s weird.
Midsommar needs a second watch before I cement my ranking.I think I liked it overall, certainly not at the level of Hereditary.Yes, if you hated Hereditary you’ll hate Midsommar more.I didn’t love it.I think I could appreciate a little more now that I’ve seen it once, and will be looking for different things on a repeat viewing.I knew it was long going in, but it felt really really long watching it.
Director Ari Aster says he’s done making horror movies now, and that makes me a little sad.He made himself a unique voice in the genre and it’s sad to see his talents being used for other things going forward.Horror needs unique voices telling original stories.Someone will come take his place, but Aster was so good at what he did, it’s sad to see him go.
On a scale of "See It/Stream It/Skip It" -- Stream It -- Worth a watch, but too many mainstream horror fans will be disappointed.It will test your patience, but reward you for sticking around
If you liked Hereditary, The Wicker Man (1973), or Witchfinder General (1968) starring Vincent Price you might like Midsommar – and I hated The Wicker Man, both versions.
2.5 out of 5 stars for Midsommar – an inventive idea that overstays its welcome