Midsommar Review

Ari Aster, the director of last year's "Hereditary," is back at it with another unique and challenging horror film. When it comes to horror, typically these unconventional horror films are my cup of tea, which is why "Midsommar" was one of my most anticipated movies of the year. "Hereditary" made my top 10 list from last year, so all you had to do is tell me that Ari Aster has another film coming out and I'm on board. In general terms, horror is a tricky genre to get right simply because fear affects everyone differently. What's scary to some people is not scary to others. But even then, if you find something that is scary to you, there's the subject of whether or not you are willing to subject yourself to that. At the same time, though, horror is a very broad genre that often gets a bad name. If you say, "I hate horror" in the same vicinity as "Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies," I'm going to look at you funny because monster movies are a genre of horror, especially ones like "Jurassic Park" that make you scared of the monsters. But I digress. My favorite types of horror films are the ones that go beyond the typical jump scare fest and dive into something deep. In doing so, the genre can have more to say and do so in a more profound way than any other genre. 

That being said, "Hereditary" is a bit of an interesting case. It's not as insanely profound as something like "The Witch" or "The Babadook," nor is it as entertainingly rewatchable as some other horror classics. I mean, it's not one that you're just going to casually pop in on Halloween evening. But it did something that few horror movies have ever done. It messed me up. I was scarred for weeks after seeing "Hereditary," which was impressive to me because I've seen so many horror films that I'm pretty thick skinned. I'm not going to jump 10 feet in the air every time a loud noise is made or when a monster jumps out of a closet. You have to do better than that. There's plenty of horror movies that some will tell me "that was the scariest movie I've ever seen," but I watch and am not scared at all. I try not to sound all high and mighty with that, but that's just what happens when you watch a lot of horror films. Yet I suppose this also goes back to fear affecting people differently. I brag about how tough I am when it comes to horror, but lift me up 10 feet in the air or release a bee into the room and I'll completely lose my mind. That's why the episode of "Black Mirror" with all the killer robotic bees was one of the most disturbing things I've sat through. It was almost too much.

Anyways, what made "Hereditary" such a disturbing film was the extreme level of shock value that caused this previously happy family to completely devolve. I don't want to get into specifics, but it was quite the experience. After taking some time to get over it, I ended up buying it on Black Friday and I find it immensely entertaining to watch with the right crowd, mostly to see their reactions to how crazy and insane it is. When it comes to "Midsommar," this is movie that almost puts "Hereditary" to shame. It's like Ari Aster purposely set out to create something shockingly disturbing with "Hereditary," then when that movie became a box office hit, thus giving him the attention and recognition, he set out to one-up himself. Given that I made it through "Hereditary," I thought I was prepared for "Midsommar," thus I rushed out to see it on the morning it came out, which was last Wednesday, July 3. Prepared, I was not. I could've rushed home, typed up a quick review, and had that all ready for the extended fourth of July weekend. But walking out of that theater, I knew that wasn't even going to be a remote possibility. Even now I don't feel prepared to write a review of this, but I know if I wait too much longer, my window of opportunity here will be lost, so here we are.

I've seen a lot of people comparing this to "The Wicker Man." Not the silly Nicholas Cage version in 2006, but the original 1973 film. Because that's been such a popular comparison, I wanted to make sure I acknowledge that, but I've not seen "The Wicker Man," so I'm not going to be doing any comparing. What I will say is that "Midsommar" is one of the most unique horror films I've personally ever seen. Perhaps that would change if I had seen "The Wicker Man," but I haven't, so it is what it is. The premise behind "Midsommar" is simple enough. A group of friends travel to a small town in Sweden to witness a ritualistic festival. One of the friends has decided to do his thesis on this group and other groups like them, so they make a vacation out of it. Adding a bit of drama into the mix is that our lead character Dani, played by Florence Pugh, has gone through a traumatizing experience with her family and thus decides last minute to join her boyfriend Christian, played by Jack Reyner, on this trip as he was one of the friends who was planning on going. That adds plenty of relationship drama as Dani and Christian aren't in the best position with each other, but Christian can't get himself to break up with her due to what she's been through.

This leads to a movie that initially is not scary. Not intense. Not dark. In fact, it's a very slow-moving drama for much of it. We were at least halfway through the movie and I wasn't convinced that this was even a horror movie. Even the most unconventional horror films are at least building to something or have some sense of darkness built in. This movie is very bright, very colorful, very friendly, and very warm. I even got the feeling early on that this would be a fun place to visit. I often like visiting different religions and different cultures. As long as you're not casual and disrespectful like Will Poulter's character in the movie is, an experience like this could be a very positive one where you experience a different part of the world that you didn't realize existed. Obviously my feelings on that completely changed by the time the end of the movie rolled around, but that's the vibe that the movie sets up. Given that this is an Ari Aster movie and I had prepared myself for the worst, I was expecting there to be a time in the film where the tone completely shifts and the madness ensues, but that didn't really happen. We are introduced to unique rituals, but nothing feels out of the ordinary, thus the movie manages to maintain its warm, friendly feeling throughout.

I don't want to get into specifics with this film because it's one of those movies where me talking too much about the second half of the film will ruin the experience, but there is an inciting incident that kicks off the madness. However, even with that, the movie never loses its bright tone. We never really have an intense score that kicks in, telling us when to be scared. Given that the setting is a place that is bright and sunny for 20 hours a day, the lighting in the film is literally bright and colorful for most of the time. It doesn't start to get wet and stormy. There's no monster that is creeping around the corners that starts picking off characters one by one. Weird things will happen, but the movie treats them like they are perfectly normal occurrences, moving on like nothing ever happened. That's what makes this such a unique horror film. This isn't one of those situations where you feel like yelling at your main character to get out of there before the scary monster kills him or her. Rather it feels like a situation where you might act exactly like some of the main characters because nothing feels off. Thus the movie ends up completely catching you off guard because you somehow saw none of it coming, even though it was all right in front of you the entire time.

In ways I can't explain in this review, that's what makes this the most unsettling and disturbing. In "Hereditary" there were things that happened that had me immediately reeling in my seat, feeling quite uncomfortable. "Midsommar" was a much different experience because there were only a few moments that were immediately disturbing. Rather, there were things that happened that I didn't think twice about when they actually happened, but then 20 or so minutes would pass and I would be like, "Wait a minute..." It was then that the horror and dread set in. No, this movie leaves nothing ambiguous. Sure, there might be themes to discuss and motivations to wonder about, but the physical events that happen are not hidden and are not left for interpretation. It just takes a long time for it to dawn on you what's actually happening. Then when you hit the end and everything gets revealed, it might make you sick to the stomach. At least that's what happened to me. This was such a happy and bright film, but yet there was nothing pleasant about it when I was walking out of the theater. It's a very dark, grim and disturbing film, all hidden under the disguise of happiness and sunlight. In fact, I walked out feeling quite upset and almost angry at what I had witnessed.

That's why I knew I couldn't review this right away. I wasn't lost in thought on my way home at some deeply profound horror film that I had witnessed. I wasn't impressed at how intense or disturbing the movie was. I was flat-out angry that I had been subjected to this movie, especially considering some of the content that happens both on and off the screen. As I said before, it feels like with "Midsommar" that Ari Aster was out to one-up himself by making something more disturbing than "Hereditary," but in doing so I was thinking that perhaps he crossed a line. At the same time, though, I didn't want to just carelessly toss this to the side, like I knew some people did with "Hereditary," given that movie's D+ Cinemascore, or many other independent, unconventional horror films that I love that suffered the same fate with general horror audiences. "The Witch." "The Babadook." "It Follows." "It Comes at Night." All of those were trashed by audiences. I didn't want to be like them with "Midsommar," but suddenly I was catching a glimpse of what it was like to hate one of these films because of how uncomfortable and different it was. Sometimes you want the simple comfort food. Maybe it's better to have that pizza or hamburger rather than try the exotic foreign dish.

In letting my feelings subside a bit, the angry feelings did go away and instead I have been able to contemplate on what it all means and what the purpose of it all is. I'm not saying I woke up on Independence Day, which was the day after I saw this, and suddenly came upon the decision that I had seen the best thing ever. Instead, I was rather comfortable with my decision to just binge "Stranger Things 3" while also spending time with family and friends all weekend. That was a pleasant distraction. But the passage of time definitely helps alleviate the initial shock of walking out of that theater. And that's why this has been one of the most challenging movie experiences that I've had. Maybe challenging isn't always good, but it's something that I can at least respect. Eventually I do want to return to "Midsommar" to come up with a final determination on how I feel, but I need more time. This week or this month is not going to be the time for me to return. I'm going to enjoy rewatching a few MCU Phase III films before I type up that ranking. I hope to enjoy myself with the more simple entertainment of "The Lion King" and "Hobbs and Shaw." And then we'll see about "Midsommar." But for now I leave it with a 7/10. But that's a temporary score. It might easily change.