Now, before we begin I would like to say that this comprehensive review will contain spoilers, so if you’ve not seen the movie and you do not want to know any of the macabre details then please, by all means, go and see it for yourself and come back to join in on all of the fun.
Personally, I am not typically one to indulge in horror films, but after hearing buzz from a modicum of my friends about this film, I decided that I was interested. I’m going to start off by describing the various things in this film that blew my mind as a viewer.
The cinematography. From the moment that I watched the trailer, I knew that I would be in for one of the most visually stunning films of the summer, I was intrigued by the story, and overwhelmed by the sense of need that I felt to find out what the movie had in store. And boy, did it have something in store for me (we’ll talk more about that later). In the first fifteen minutes of the movie, I found myself in what can only be described as complete and utter awe of not only the events that ensued but the way it was all shot and stitched together. Every pan and transition indicated the exact feeling the events were supposed to invoke. They were smooth and looming when the audience was left to wonder, jarringly abrupt when everything in Dani’s life had suddenly imploded following her sister’s murder-suicide of her parents. I felt my head turning as the camera spun, following their car deeper and deeper into the trenches of Sweden that the majority of them would never escape.
I think going into the film I had a feeling that there would be something intricate and delicate about the work that was done, and I couldn’t have been more correct. It made me care. The writing, the IMPECCABLE acting, the cinematography, the utter lack of music at the beginning of the movie that dropped a boulder in the pit of my stomach, and made me feel immense empathy for Dani’s character and what she went through.
I would also just like to take an entire sidebar to give credit to Florence Pugh, there was something so raw and vivid about her performance that left me completely dumbfounded. I’d never seen her in a film before but the moment that I heard her sobs over the phone to her boyfriend, I knew that I was getting to see something truly special. Pugh has talent beyond words, and personally beyond my comprehension, so there’s that.
The entire cast did a fantastic job, I just can’t get this movie out of my mind because of their amazing performances. I have struggled, my entire life with being comfortable with my passion for stories and telling them in any way that I can, be it acting, writing, or what have you, and I can safely say that this movie has reminded me what it is about art that makes me feel truly alive. I haven’t seen Hereditary, but everything in me has the desire to because I am that impressed by Ari Aster’s mind and the things he’s created. Midsommar was like a twisted fairy tale in the best way, the story and its message and its execution all carried with them something untouchable, and I am so very glad that I got a chance to see it.
I will say that I couldn’t bring myself to look at the screen many times when they showed the smashed open faces of the elders, and I definitely dry-heaved a bit upon seeing Mike’s (I think his name was Mike?) lungs flipped outside of his body like angel wings, but all in all I was just so astounded by everything else and how good the movie and the plot was that I was willing to put those apprehensions aside. The friends I saw it with, on the other hand, could only see as far as the excessive gore. Oh, and the graphic ceremonial conception scene between Christian and that girl from the village. That’s about as far as they saw.
The entire story was so well done, and well written and the parallels between Dani hiding her emotions in the beginning out of fear of running Christian away, and her finally embracing her trauma with the women of the village…beautiful. Seeing this movie was a jarring, enlightening, and intriguing experience, and while it seems like I enjoyed everything except for the extremely graphic scenes, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if they weren’t there. Midsommar was twisted, and dark, but also light and intricate and beautiful and I loved it despite its bloody gory details.
I need to establish a scale of rating these movies. I just really enjoyed it and I wouldn’t change a single thing about my experience, nor would I want to take it back.
9/10
Disclaimer: I do not own the image I’ve used here, nor do I have any intention of taking credit for it. I don’t really know how else to cite it.
allestory 