Director: Ari Aster
Genre: Horror, Drama
Runtime: 147 Minutes
Main Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Dag Andersson, Isabelle Grill
Plot: A group of young Americans travel to a remote town in Sweden, at the invite of their friend, to take part in their Midsommar festivities. Dani, the girlfriend of one of the boys has recently suffered a traumatic incident and although not originally invited, joins the group as an escape.
My Thoughts: I’m marking this post as filled with spoilers, because it’s one of those where the less you know, the better the experience. Experience is definitely the best word I could use to describe Misdommar! After this and last year’s Hereditary, I will be racing to the cinema to see whatever Ari Aster makes next. The reaction from the audience once the credits rolled is a hilarious mixture of awe, disgust, bewilderment, and anger. It’s painfully obvious that some of the more casual movie fans were after a stereotypical horror!
Hereditary is still my favourite, but what I love about both is the most horrific things in the movie either happen off-screen, in the background or are so subtle that you might miss them if you aren’t paying attention. I’ve come to enjoy the movie more in the days after watching just from piecing some of the scenes together. It’s a long movie at just under 2 and a half hours, but it didn’t feel long to me – it’s a slow burner, but I couldn’t take my eyes away. That’s a lie, there was definitely more than one scene where I HAD to look away!
What surprised me was how funny Midsommar was in places too – I wasn’t expecting it and I pray to all the movie gods that Ari Aster makes a comedy at some point because it would be amazing. All in all, I highly recommend this movie – go in blind, don’t expect something exciting to be happening at every given moment, and just sit back and enjoy the festivities…
Best Bit: When Mark peed on the ancestral tree. It was funny enough alone, but then the villager’s reaction made it even better. Plus, the scene at the meal just afterward, with the way that guy was staring at Mark? I was laughing so damn loud whilst hiding in my own row at the cinema!
Worst Bit: The dance for the title of May Queen made me feel more ill than any of the gory scenes! It was possibly because I was sat in the second row from the front so I wasn’t sat with any groups of rowdy teens but the entire room was spinning for ages afterward…blergh!
Fun Trivia: According to Ari Aster, this was meant to be his first horror movie since Hereditary was intended to just be a family drama.
“Family drama” …ha!
My Rating: 3 and a half handmade pies. Oh, there’s a hair in yours? Uh…don’t worry about it…just drink your wine…
