Midsommar is the second horror movie written and directed by Ari Aster for the studio A24. I loved Hereditary and was very excited to see what Ari Aster’s follow-up would be. I think that Midsommar is a damn fine horror movie, with some great performances and shocking moments, but it never quite hits the highs that Hereditary did for me.
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The Movie Review
Just like with Hereditary, Ari Aster has an amazing cast here to bring his story to life. Florence Pugh really became a major player in Hollywood thanks to her role as Dani in this movie. We also have Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, and Vilhelm Blomgren rounding out the majority of our main cast.
Dani has been dating a guy called Christian for a few years, but he is planning on breaking up with her. However, Dani’s sister and parents die and as she is so grief-stricken, Christian is not able to break up with her. I think that Jack Reynor in this movie is amazing, he really does make you dislike him and think that he is a grade-A asshole.
The trouble is one of Christian’s friends, Pelle is from Sweden and he has invited Christian and their friends Mark and Josh (who specializes in European midsummer festivals) to his home village in rural Sweden where a pagan festival is about to take place. Christian ends up inviting Dani along for the ride, which is not something the rest of the group is all that happy about.
Once they get to this place, they soon realize that things are not all as happy and friendly as they seem. There is a scene where two village elders jump to their death to commit suicide as that is one of the customs of this place once people reach the age of 72! It is truly a shocking moment and one of the main things I remember about this movie.
We get to see the customs and beliefs of this “cult” and our main characters get brought into it and become a major part of the proceedings. Of course, all the while Dani is still trying to deal with her grief which is made all the harder by how much of a jerk Christian is, he truly is a character you grow to hate in this movie and I cannot praise the acting performance highly enough here.
One thing that makes Midsommar such an interesting movie is the way it looks. With this being set in Sweden, it is one of the brightest-looking horror movies you will ever see. Granted, there are still some parts that happen at night and in the dark, but it is way lighter than many other horror movies.
The first time I saw Midsommar I thought that it was just ok, but I have watched it again since then and I enjoyed it a lot more. I think that this 100 percent has that A24 horror movie style about it. It is a horror movie for those that want something a bit smarter than just another slasher movie. I enjoyed this, but I have to be honest and say that out of this and his other movie Hereditary, I prefer Hereditary!
