Review:
"Midsommar"
Release Date: July 3, 2019
Rating: R Running Time: 147 minutes The grief-stricken consumes Ari Aster. Last year, the writer/director made his presence known with Hereditary, an eerie chiller that chronicled the slow disintegration of a family in mourning. With Midsommar, Aster delivers the perfect companion piece to Hereditary. He expands upon the themes he explored to harrowing effect in his directorial debut. The circumstances are certainly different, but an overwhelming sense of loss fuels Midsommaras much as it did Hereditary. This extends to the broken relationship that Aster focuses on in Midsommar. Impending heartbreak serves as a potentially motivating force in Midsommar, which transforms this daylight horror film into a relatable revenge saga that helps distinguishes it from another treatise on the occult that it will inevitability be compared with, The Wicker Man. Whereas Hereditaryunfolded in dark and/or confined spaces, Midsommaroperates in the sunny great wide open. All is in plain sight—except for the danger that awaits a group of U.S. tourists at a seemingly benign Swedish rural commune. Florence Pugh wears her emotions on her sleeves as Dani, which is not a surprise given what Aster puts Dani through during the defining opening 10 minutes of Midsommar. Months after the passing of three family members, Dani invites herself on a trip to Sweden with her boyfriend Christian (Detroit’s Jack Reynor) and his college friends Mark (The Maze Runner’s Will Poulter, providing some much-needed comic relief) and Josh (The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper) to visit the commune where fellow university student Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) was raised. Dani is still in mourning, which is a problem for Christian. He cannot help Dani heal because he lacks much in the way of empathy. In fact, he intended to dump Dani before the tragedy. Now he stays with her because he feels it is the right to do. But the distance between the couple is noticeably, and it grows wider when they arrive at the commune for a 9-day festival to celebrate the summer solstice. Aster initially positions the commune’s residents as figures of ridicule in the eyes of the outsiders. They talk weird. They act weird. They have weird customs and rituals. Unlike Hereditary, though, Aster does not wait until the final minutes of Midsommarto reveal that his unsuspecting antagonists are at the mercy of a cult. This frees Aster up from having to conceal the true nature of the residents, although their agenda remains unspoken until the very end of Midsommar. This allows Aster to focuses his full attention on filling us with so much dread until all is finally revealed. Clocking in at deceptively brisk 147 minutes, Midsommarbuilds steadily toward and earns its terrifying moments. Aster often leaves us to imagine the worst, but he also does not hesitate to shock us as he did with Hereditary. If Hereditary’s most disturbing moment came without warning, Midsommarsets its up over the course of five minutes. We suspect what is about to happen. And, when it does, it is more stomach churning because of Aster’s willingness to let it play out at its own pace. Aster naturally treats the commune as one of Midsommar’s characters. The commune is as charming and inviting as it is isolated from the rest of the world, and the simple way of life that is lived within its boundaries is reflected in the unpretentious design of its living quarters, work areas, and community space. Deceptively inviting, the commune looks like something found at Epcot. Couple this with the warmth displayed by residents and it is easy to understand why Dani and her friends do not trust their first instincts and run back to civilization minutes upon arrival. Dani finds solace in the commune. She needs a shoulder to cry on, which Christian will not or cannot provide. Midsommaris about discovering a safe space to share your grief and venting the anger that boils inside. And Midsommaroffers Dani a place where she feels she belongs, Unfortunately, Dani’s grief clouds her judgment, and her pent-up rage toward Christian manifests itself in all the wrong ways. Christian’s not a bad person. He’s just a lousy, unempathetic boyfriend, and Reynor displays a detachment that is derived from a combination of unawareness and indifference. But the commune also has plans for Christian that does not necessarily involve Dani. This all culminates in a freaky sexual encounter that Aster wisely plays for uncomfortable laughs. That Midsommar takes in broad daylight, in a country where the sun does not set at night in June, makes Aster’s exacting study of the burden of psychological and emotional pain all the more horrifying. Sometimes the sunlight blinds you to the evil staring straight at you in the eyes. Robert Sims Aired: June 27, 2019 Web sites: https://a24films.com/films/midsommar https://www.facebook.com/MidsommarMovie/ |
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