Midsommar
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
- Released: 2019-07-03
- Runtime: 148 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
- Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren, Isabelle Grill, Gunnel Fred, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Henrik Norlén, Agnes Westerlund Rase, Julia Ragnarsson, Mats Blomgren, Lars Väringer, Anna Åström, Hampus Hallberg, Liv Mjönes, Louise Peterhoff, Katarina Weidhagen, Björn Andrésen, Tomas Engström, Dag Andersson, Lennart R. Svensson, Anders Beckman, Rebecka Johnston, Tove Skeidsvoll, Anders Back, Anki Larsson, Levente Puczkó-Smith, Frans Cavallin Rosengarten, Vilmos Kolba, Mihály Kaszás, Gabi Fón, Zsolt Bojári, Klaudia Csányi, Anna Berentzen, Austin R. Grant, Maximilian Slash Marton
- Director: Ari Aster
Comments
- brucewayne-95001 - 10 June 2024
Midsommar: A Hauntingly Beautiful Descent into Darkness
**Midsommar Review**
**Script & Plot (20):** 13 **Screenplay & Dialogue (15):** 9 **Entertainment Value (15):** 10 **Cinematography (10):** 9 **Sound Mixing (10):** 8 **Acting & Characters (10):** 9 **Costume & Design (10):** 8 **Visual Effects (10):** 8
**Total Score: 74/100**
"Midsommar" is a haunting exploration of grief, community, and the macabre side of human nature, set against the eerily bright backdrop of a Swedish summer. With a total score of 74, it shines in areas like cinematography and acting, creating a visually stunning and emotionally resonant experience. The plot and script, while intriguing, don't reach the heights of its visual storytelling, but the film's slow pace and dark mood effectively immerse the audience in its unsettling narrative. Ideal for viewers who appreciate a slow burn and are intrigued by themes of cults and psychedelics, "Midsommar" is best enjoyed alone, allowing its chilling atmosphere to fully envelop you during an afternoon viewing. - axiefallss - 22 April 2024
Well, that was weird!
What a trip of a movie- I feel like I licked a few too many mushrooms.
It's a very pretty movie for one thing. Stellar cinematography and editing, the sound design does a really good job of selling the more disturbing parts of the film, too. One of the best parts about the cinematography is that they do a really good job of making things look overwhelming and disorienting when they need it to, with the quick flashes of various angles for the more panicked scenes. Such a cool detail.
Fantastic acting from everyone. I was very impressed by the production as a whole.
The characters and their problems all seemed nuanced, and there was a lot of good foreshadowing and subtlety in the writing that I quite liked and found very interesting.
With all that being said, LORD it was long. Way too long. Felt like it dragged on, especially around the latter middle... when my girlfriend and I were watching it together, she said "There's still an hour left??" And honestly, I think they really could have benefitted by cutting down about a half hour or so.
That's really my big thing, and also a lot of what was going felt a tad overdramatic at times. Other than that, great production, a solid movie overall! - AbsimiliJon - 26 March 2024
Sometimes hilarious, occasionally uncomfortable, mainly boring
This had the potential to tell an interesting story of inter-character drama and folk horror. Unfortunately the characters are so one-dimensional that after a short while, you simply don't care about them, and there are no scary scenes whatsoever. Nor is there any tension, as the plot is completely clichéd, and telegraphs rather than foreshadows. If you think this will be an effective horror film, the tension you have before you start watching it will be the strongest the film will give you. A few attempts at gross-outs sprinkled throughout do little to nothing to relieve the tedium. Perhaps believable human reactions from any of the main characters as they experience the weirdness would've helped, but these reactions (or lack thereof) are more of a source of comedy. There are two other outsiders occasionally present who actually have realistic reactions, and frankly I'd rather have the film follow them.
Furthermore, the references to actual culture, mythology and history are all so thoroughly inaccurate that it becomes laughable to anyone with even a passing knowledge about such things. (And as a Scandinavian I have plenty.) Had it been cut down to about half its length it could've worked as a satire of Americans' notions of foreign culture, but a few good chuckles aren't enough to recommend this on even a Plan 9 from Outer Space-level.
The cinematography is good, the actors do the best to be expected with such a very limited script, but the "music" was at times literally painful, and made me reach for the mute button on more than one occasion. Imagine electronic impersonation of the worst violin failures possible, and you have the idea. - VikiLauda - 1 January 2023
Weird!
Sorry but could not make head or tail to this garbage. I was expecting something along the lines of the Wicker Man but no.... This makes no sense & I am wondering who else thinks this? I really enjoyed Heriditary but ths is like from another director. Come on we can do better than this. It is not even vageuly defied as a horror movie. Horror movies are supposed to be scarey. This is about as scarey as going to work in the morning! Please come up with something better. It is no wonder there are so many unhappy people giving this a one star as it is simply NOT HORROR. Just my honest opinion!
Don't waste your time & money.
Sorry. - sachiyobaird - 18 December 2022
Not everyone likes this kind of movie
It's definitely weird and feel bad after watching, some scenes are very shocking and sickening. But beautiful days in the field and grotesque scenes at the same time makes insanity of cult acts more realistic as well as the fantasy of their own world. Dani is mentally valuable after her family's tragedy and has a rocky relationship with her boyfriend. You see how easily people can be mind controlled or deceit by those cult acts.
I wouldn't say I enjoy watching this but it's very interesting horrific drama. Florence Pugh who plays Dani is brilliant, othe actors are not bad. Also cinematography is great. - wwhatt - 22 November 2022
Solid
Very strange mixture of themes that I've never seen before in a psychological horror film. Glad I got to see this in the theater because the production is tight.
This is a psychologically gripping piece cinema that ties in themes of romantic relationships slowly disintegrating with murdery cult horrory goodness. The slow realization that your significant other could care less about you, especially when you're in a dark place in your life and need the emotional support the most. Letting go of a crumbling relationship and embracing a cult that's treated you more like family than anyone ever has.
If you are the type of person who gets upset when the movie doesn't spoon feed you exposition and makes you use your brain, this isn't for you.
Stick to SAW if you want a popcorn horror flick. - frankde-jong - 30 October 2022
A good film that could have been great
Only a year after his successful debut "Hereditary" (2018) Ari Aster came with the successor "Midsommar". "Midsommar" is situated in rural Sweden. A couple of American students are invited by a fellow student from Sweden to spent the summer with the community he comes from. As the title of the movie indicates the film is situated in a period that it is never (completely) dark in Sweden. The abundance of sunlight is rather strange for a horror movie.
The community in Sweden is practicing some Nordic pagan religion, being the source of much of the horror events in the film. In this respect the film resembles "The Wicker man" (1973, Robin Hardy), not in the least in the final scene. Many of the religious practices have to do with fertility and sexuality, as is already indicated by paintings on walls and ceilings. Some of the rituals however are dedicated to the end of life, and in this respect the film seems to have borrowed ideas from "The ballad of Narayama" (1958, Keisuke Kinoshita & 1983, Shohei Imamura). "Seems", because the ideas portrayed are not exclusively Japanese. In Scandinavian mythology these ideas are known under the name of "Attestupa". So the religion of the Swedish community is covering the whole circle of birth and death. Remarkable is the extreme collectivism of the religious ideas. Individuals ars supposed to offer their self interest for the community, but on the other hand the community is sometimes mimicking emotions from a single individual.
This Swedish community is visited by the American students. At the beginning of the film (even before the opening titles) we are introduced to these students. This part of the film is (more traditional for a horror movie) situated in dark locations. It turns out that there is something rotten in the relationships between these students, most of al in the relationship between Christian (Jack Reynor) and his girlfriend Dani (Florence Pugh). The students take these psychological problems with them when travelling to Sweden.
After arriving in the community the American students are very different from the locals. The difference is not only accentuated by the clothing (all locals are wearing immaculate white clothes, also very strange for a horror movie) but also by the mentality. The American students are very individualistic. There is even competition about subjects for a thesis.
"Midsommar" is a good film, but it good have been great. Its defect is the balance between the Swedish community and the American students. What is the link between the character deficiencies that most of the students have and what is happening to them in Sweden? In the Agatha Christie novel "And then there were none" (and the numerous film adaptations of this novel), this link was very clear. In "Midsommar" the connection was not very clear to me. I also had problems interpreting the breaking smile on the face of Dani at the very end of the film. Suggests this smile that Dani is joining the community and maybe inviting new innocent victims in the future (like her fellow Swedish student at the beginning of the film)? In that case the smile would be really scary. This interpretation is however contradicted by the announcement at the beginning of the film that the ceremony is only held once in the 90 years.
