About the film (courtesy of A24):
Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) 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.
I’ve tossed and turned on writing my review for Ari Aster’s latest offering on modern day cultism, Midsommar. Aster made one of the loudest “acknowledge my brilliance!” statements with his debut film, Hereditary (2018), which left audiences shaken, disturbed and completely entertained with his fresh take on horror. With a coming out party like that, everyone eagerly awaited his follow-up. A short 13 months later, the wait is over as his highly anticipated sophomore selection has just opened wide.
Midsommar should prove to be even more divisive than his first film. Expectations are much higher this time around and that works both for and against this new release. Having an inkling of what Aster might bring to the table now, I found myself waiting eagerly for the “WTF moment (or moments)” that would surely make their way to the film’s plot at some point. I was not disappointed. What does feel like a letdown is the loss in momentum that occurs as things begin to drag towards the middle. I’m all for setting up a story properly, but the pace is uneven in my eyes. There’s a lot of areas to explore but we end up racing through some spots while totally dragging our feet at others.
The acting is equally uneven. At certain points it feels as though some of the actors, Florence Pugh in particular, truly feared whatever was going on during filming. Other times however, you begin to wonder if some of the talent was just at their wits’ end and wanted to be done with the scenes. This isn’t really a shot at any of the actors or Aster for that matter. There’s no telling how uncomfortable or unsettling the situations may have been on location while filming. It just didn’t fully translate to an immersive theatrical experience.
Along with Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter and Vilhelm Blomgren held their own the majority of the time. The chemistry is good between the main actors which allows some leeway when there’s nothing really interesting going on. And that’s the biggest issue with Midsommar. There are very limited times where something truly interesting is going on. I’m usually a fan of indirect terror and no necessarily shoving whatever in your face to invoke a measured response. This felt different. It’s more of an unapologetic approach that says screw you to masses that are expecting a more traditional horror experience.
I have softened my stance a bit in that I’ll concede the fact that some people will actually find this approach to terror appealing. I am not one of those people. I found the entertainment value to be low and the “payoff” at the end does not justify its excessive runtime (140 minutes). This is a step back from what Ari Aster achieved with his debut film, and yet I’ll be right there eagerly awaiting his next. Midsommar is NOT the midsummer horror film I was hoping for. Maybe next time.
