Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster, is a haunting and visually stunning folk horror film that explores loss, trauma, and the dissolution of an abusive relationship. The 2019 release of this unnerving and atmospheric film transports viewers to the bizarre world of a Swedish commune’s midsummer celebration, where the line between dream and reality begins to blur. Midsommar is a one-of-a-kind and thought-provoking movie experience with its stunning images, powerful acting, and frightening plot. Continue reading the Midsommar Movie Review to learn more about the film.
Script
Midsommar started out as a basic horror picture set against a background of Swedish cultism. This DNA can be felt in a few moments. Still, according to writer-director Ari Aster, the concept evolved into its final shape — something considerably more strange — after he went through a particularly traumatic breakup. Midsommar is, in essence, a breakup movie. It’s maybe the most gratifyingly petty breakup picture since Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, yet while focusing on a feuding couple, the gnula film goes deeper into headier, heavier issues, most of the time effectively.
Whereas Aster’s Hereditary exploited the American horror playbook to convey a narrative of pain and loss, his follow-up moves beyond those visual confines while focusing on similar issues. But, while Hereditary uses sadness to color in the character of Annie Graham (Toni Collette) as she confronts personal traumas, Midsommar presents grief as something more unpleasant, something incomprehensible and overpowering. At times, sorrow is horror.
Star Performance
What we need to know about Dani and Christian is revealed by how they respond to this horror. In a shocking performance, Pugh’s mouth starts to drop into a downturned sneer, and she falls to the floor, howling like an animal. Reynor, who is also great, acts like a deer caught in headlights. He ignores everything that’s going on as a way to deal with things. When two people are meant to be together, it’s scary to see how different they really are.
Sound Design and Score
The sound design in Midsommar plays a crucial role in creating an eerie and disorienting atmosphere. The film employs a mix of natural sounds, haunting chants, and unnerving music to enhance the sense of unease and uneasiness. The dissonant score by Bobby Krlic adds to the film’s haunting and otherworldly quality, heightening the tension and amplifying the story’s emotional impact.
Cinematography
Throughout the group’s exploration of the commune and its odd religion, Aster and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski’s camera rarely turns away from the disturbing and grotesque. Initially, the atrocities they witness resemble ritualistic self-mutilation involving voluntary sacrifices. In spite of this, Pelle and the village elders assure them that what they are witnessing is not merely voluntary but also profoundly spiritual. Midsommar is far more fascinating and disturbing when it concentrates on the literal details of this physical savagery. The gruesomeness almost penetrates the screen.
Final Word
Midsommar is still a one-of-a-kind experience. Shadows are an essential element in any horror director’s — indeed any filmmaker’s — toolbox, so Ari Aster sets himself a task by shooting the majority of the picture in daylight. The picture seldom, if ever, depends on classic jump scares since most of the terror isn’t what you see but what creeps under your skin over the course of two and a half hours. It will most likely be there long after you leave the theater.