Midsommar - A Bright and Sunny Nightmare

Have you ever watched a movie that managed to just get completely under your skin? Last year’s Hereditary was like that for me; it terrified and affected me to my core. Ari Aster’s debut film was a sort of revelation - a rebirth of horror that did away with the stale jump scares that have been dominating the genre for years in favor of a complete atmosphere of unease  and disturbing imagery. Fans of that first film of his will be happy (or terrified) to know that Midsommar casts a similar sort of spell. It stays in your mind long after the credits have finished rolling.

Dani (Florence Pugh) is in the middle of a rough patch. After a family tragedy befalls her, she’s become a shut-in (well, more so than she already was), wallowing in her pain. Her boyfriend of a few years now, Christian (Jack Reynor) is there for her to see her through this, but, encouraged by his group of guy friends, is also seemingly looking for an exit. One of those friends, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), invites everyone to join him as he returns to his home in Sweden - a small, close-knit community that adheres to strict traditions - for their midsommar festival.

It’s an obvious trap, but isn’t that part of the fun? Aster is aware of the audience’s awareness of watching a horror film, and in that regard, Midsommar partly reads as a black comedy. Humor is something that was nonexistent in Hereditary, but here it works perfectly to the feeling of uncomfortableness - when jokes are made, you’re not sure whether to laugh or not. Most of the humor comes from awkward moments. The dark and spooky aesthetic of a haunted house is gone, and in its place are wide open fields of grass and flowers and endless sunshine. The people here also have sunny dispositions, clad in all white in both dress and skin. But just like Hereditary, the sense of unease is palpable. You know that things aren’t right or what they seem, so the fun comes in unraveling the terrifying mystery behind it all.

The group takes a tour when they first arrive, and Aster begins setting up his elaborate trap. The buildings are all too off-kilter to be charming, the paintings and art everywhere seem wondrous until you take a closer look, and the rituals and rules of the place are just a little too off-putting. Pelle tells them not to go near a distracting, pyramid shaped building, and when asked about a bear in a cage sitting in the middle of the field, he simply shrugs. “It’s just a bear.” These are all obvious things that’ll come into play; we know it, and Aster knows that we know it. When one of the group, Mark (Will Poulter) relieves himself on a sacred tree, or Josh (William Jackson Harper) takes photos in a place he’s not supposed to, they’ve basically painted a target on their foreheads.

The very lengthy runtime of Midsommar (it clocks in every second of its two hour and twenty seven minute runtime) allows Aster to take his time setting up all the pieces for a finale that is nothing short of insanity. There’s a gruesome double suicide, plants and other objects of nature stuffed into orifices that they don’t belong, inbreeding, and choir-assisted ritual sex, all set against a bright and beautiful backdrop. Horror fans will get their fix for the macabre, there’s no doubt about that, but the film’s length winds up being detrimental to it as well. It’s just way too long, and there are times when you’ll be wishing it would just get to the point already. 

Still, Midsommar proves that Aster and his ability to create a thick atmosphere of unease and dread wasn’t a fluke. You leave his films feeling like something is just off with the world somehow. Just like his first film, Midsommar also has much more going on than what’s there at face value. Hereditary is about a family dealing with extreme and sudden grief. Midsommar, once you’ve had time to reflect on everything you witnessed, reveals itself to be about freeing yourself from toxic relationships in your life. It also reads as a strike back against toxic masculinity as a whole. The black comedy aspect comes into play the longer the movie goes on - think of it as a sort of dark fantasy for anyone who’s struggled to remove themselves from a dysfunctional romance.

Prep yourself to be ready to looking up all the hidden messages and subtext within the film, there’s a ton of it. Midsommar is another victory for the horror genre, one that has a lot to say underneath its scary and sunny exterior.

4 / 5 Stars