Review of Midsommar (2019) by Moviemitch96 — 04 Jul 2019

Last summer, a little-known director by the name of Ari Aster came out of nowhere with a horror film called 'Hereditary', and in the eyes of many audiences and critics alike, he greatly revitalized the horror genre with it's effective slow burn and dark, ominous atmosphere.

And believe it or not, while I initially panned that film upon its release, it wasn't until a couple of repeat viewings at home that I finally started to acknowledge its clever scares and genuine creepiness that I failed to recognize in it at the theater (I had the misfortune of an obnoxious audience that ruined any potential tension or scares for me, so that was likely the reason.

) So I was very much looking forward to this next effort from him, which follows a young couple in the aftermath of a tragedy that makes their already rocky relationship all the more tense. Soon after, they find themselves traveling with some college friends to a summer festival in Sweden held only once every 90 years.

However, upon arriving there, they start slowly but surely realizing that the people and festivities there are anything but innocent, and that they're among an evil and ritualistic cult. Wow... where do I even begin with this one? Well, I suppose I could begin by straight up saying that this film is Bizarre, with a capital B! It contains scenes and imagery that I won't soon forget, for better or worse.

Furthermore, the film is quite interesting and full of unique, albeit shocking moments and ideas, and was enough to make even me cringe and squirm at times. However, like 'Hereditary', the film does burn a bit slow at two and a half hours and takes its time in terms of pacing and setup, leading me to believe that the film would deliver a bit of a bigger punch or impact by the end, but the way it went instead left me feeling slightly underwhelmed.

The story also felt scattershot and random at times. However, when looked at a little deeper, it's interesting to see what it has to say about relationships, breakups, etc. and how it conveys those things.

Overall, it's pretty graphic and memorable in some unique ways, but the story's a bit muddled while trying to juggle being gruesome/violent and having a fully focused story at the same time (that also has slightly mixed results in preaching the undertones of relationships and breakups.