Midsommar

8

ItsmayaOct 17, 2021

I just loved this movie!
It was so interesting, unique, beautiful (like so f**king beautiful!!! The colors and the cinematography in this film was just breathtaking!).
The acting is top-notch especially from Florence Pugh who gives aI just loved this movie!
It was so interesting, unique, beautiful (like so f**king beautiful!!! The colors and the cinematography in this film was just breathtaking!).
The acting is top-notch especially from Florence Pugh who gives a marvelous performance!
I can say that the story is slow, and you need to come to this film with an easy mind set to really enjoy and appreciate it, but in my opinion it's absolutely worth it!
If I'll have the opportunity I think I will watch it again, and I can obviously recommend you to watch this film.… Expand

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8

AJ_13Mar 29, 2022

I don't consider myself to be a huge horror fan (in fact I hardly ever watch terror movies), but I really loved Midsommar. Camera-work alongside a exquisite cinematography and a spectacular Florence Pugh got me hooked
without noticing theI don't consider myself to be a huge horror fan (in fact I hardly ever watch terror movies), but I really loved Midsommar. Camera-work alongside a exquisite cinematography and a spectacular Florence Pugh got me hooked
without noticing the pace problem everyone seems to suffer.

I really can't wait for Ari Aster's new project with
Joaquin Phoenix.… Expand

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10

DJ98Jul 9, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What’s scary about Midsummer is how many people saw it as a happy movie. They were happy that Dani finally got what she wanted, a family. In reality, the Hårga are a cult. Pelle chose Dani to be the new member because he knew that she had no family or friends who would investigate her disappearance and was desperate for a sense of belonging.

It’s funny how people are confident that they’d never get indoctrinated into a cult, yet these same people didn't see the Hårga as a cult. I’m like, “of course you wouldn’t get indoctrinated into a cult. You’re not desperate enough.” People join cults when, like Dani, their lives are in shambles. They’re poor/homeless, their family abandoned them, their family is dead, they don't have friends, they’re sick, or they’re having an existential crisis and are seeking guidance. Some people claim that the Hårga wasn't that bad because they showed Dani she'd be getting into. But, does she though? For example, of the Hårga's traditions is when their members reach the age of 72, they're no longer seen as being of use to the village and commit suicide by falling off a mountain. So, what happens when a member reaches 72, is perfectly healthy, and doesn’t want to die? Do you think the cult is just gonna let them live and die of natural causes? No. They’re either gonna force them off the mountain, sacrifices them, or exile them to the forest to fend for themselves. Since the Hårga live miles away from civilization and don't have phones or cell reception, no one can call for help. The Hårga, like all rural villages, believe in traditional gender roles. What happens when a female member is infertile or doesn’t want to get pregnant? Or a male member doesn’t want to work or becomes disabled? Cults are notorious for being ruthless to members who step out of line or can’t contribute. We never see Hårga members getting punished or tortured for insubordination in the movie because they wanted to show Dani all their good sides. Do you think Pelle would’ve taken Dani to the village if it was raining or there wasn’t a festival? No. He specially chose the perfect day to make the Hårga as appealing as possible. Dani is still trapped and will be forced to conform to their way of life, or else.

People also say the Hårga is like paradise compared to mainstream American society because they could give Dani what she needed without technology. However, it wasn’t modern society that caused Dani to be miserable, it was a combination of Christian’s apathy and Dani’s sister murdering her parents. We never know why she murdered her parents and killed herself. Was she mentally ill? We’re Dani’s parents abusing her? We don’t know. Society also didn’t make Dani introverted; that’s just the way she is. If Christian were a better boyfriend, and Dani had better friends, Pelle wouldn't have targeted her for indoctrination.

There's also been debate on whether or not the Hårga are a cult. They are, but not in the way we think of cults. They're similar to the Amish. They can claim to not be a cult since the members are allowed to leave. There's even a tradition called Rumspringa where Amish teens can choose to either stay or leave the village. The problem is both the Hårga and Amish's way of life is completely incompatible with the outside world. If any of them did leave, where could they go? They don't have driver's licenses, passports, dental records, social security codes, birth certificates, education records, or any form of official identification. As for work, the only thing they could do is low-skill factory work, be a maid/housekeeper, or a farmhand.

People who were born and raised there are unlikely to leave because that would mean abandoning all their friends, family, and the only life they've ever known. Even though they're not technically hostages, their culture makes assimilation with the outside world is almost impossible. That's why a lot of them say, "Why would I leave? I have everything I need." This is why we see none of the Hårga leave, even though they could. That's why self-sustaining cults are dangerous.… Expand

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8

trashsoranoJul 7, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's a slow paced movie that keeps you waiting for the climax, and when the girls start moaning and screaming, i don't even know the right words to describe that, but it's genius, and it can be slightly underwhelming depending on how high are your expectations, and it's also not the garbage jumpscare kind of terror, so it may disappoint some people, and it's also not the most shocking movie I've watched, it's way more forgettable than other I've watched from other directors, but it's a great movie… Expand

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8

jjaugaOct 3, 2021

Story: 9...clearly Sweden's warning to any American who hints that life would be better in "one of those Scandinavian countries"
Script: 7
Performances: 6
Misc.: 9...GREAT cinematography and editing. Beautiful and creative. Overall: 8

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9

Tgrills89Dec 28, 2021

Amazing movie and severely underrated. Highly recommend to anyone who hasn’t watched.

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7

jaam1996Mar 11, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the type of movie where the reaction of the people around you is more scary than the movie itself. The movie is around cults, how they pull the right strings, manipulate your vulnerability and desire to "belong" to commit horrible injustices and to over react to upsetting things. If you believe that the end of the movie is a "happy ending", then congrats, you're the type of person who believes to be "too smart" to join a cult, but in fact you are the most easy to manipulate into join one. On a site note, never stay with someone who you don't actually love just because you feel pity for them, you're just hurting both. At the end, the protagonist just changed one toxic relationship for another. People say is a "happy ending" because she makes the cult kill her boyfriend by burning him alive, because he "cheated" (the cult drugged him and he was actually raped, but she didn't know that, the cult lied to her), but the fact she thought that he deserves to be burned alive because of that, is beyond me (or to any reasonable person with a cold head). What is scary is that people think this is "empowering". If the gender were reversed then they would say otherwise, which says a lot about out horrible society.… Expand

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8

LightsAndBulbsSep 18, 2022

Florence Pugh's portrayal of grief is heartbreakingly ugly, and realistic, and so is the dynamic between her and her boyfriend. Yes, the writing certainly deserves some credit for those two things, but Florence's performance is so incrediblyFlorence Pugh's portrayal of grief is heartbreakingly ugly, and realistic, and so is the dynamic between her and her boyfriend. Yes, the writing certainly deserves some credit for those two things, but Florence's performance is so incredibly raw and uncompromising that you'd swear Dani was a real person. I would put her performance in this film right along aside Toni Collette's in "Hereditary". Both are, without a doubt, beyond Oscar-worthy. Moving away from Pugh for a little while, "Midsommar's" other aspects all work quite well. While the story does occasionally feature cliches within the way it chooses to dispose of its characters, the film as a whole does a good job of being interesting and deeply unique, and much of that is thanks to its bright color palette, and wonderous set design. Just as Pugh makes Dani a real figure, the cult in "Midsommar" is expertly built-up and detailed in their construction to the point where you feel just as terrified of them as the characters. Their actions, lore, and ways of attracting new members all feel relatively grounded, and increase the horror of the film overall. While this may not be on the same level as Hereditary, "Midsommar" is one more piece of evidence that Ari Aster is of modern cinema's most talented writers and directors.
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Best Performance: Florence Pugh… Expand

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8

CarlElmoreNov 22, 2022

Florence Pugh gives a career best performance and the visuals and directing are superb.

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7

jpmanistanNov 3, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I agree with the negative reviews in that the characters are not very fleshed out, but that is so common with movies and horror movies especially that I can't see why that's something to hold against this movie in particular. TLDR: SPOILERS!!

In the end, it is the originality of the setting and cinematography and some of the acting that got me to 7 on this. I am glad I saw it. It stuck in my head, and I don't regret spending the time to watch it. But it would have been WAYYYYYYY BETTTTTERR!!! if the main characters were newlyweds and maybe expecting a baby and she found out that the guy had slept with her sister before she killed herself or something and he regretted it and loved the girlfriend but it was too late because she was so traumatized by her sister's suicide and murder of their parents that she condemns him anyway and maybe runs into the fire herself or something. Instead, it is like "Guy I've been dating for three months is sort of self-centered..." BFD. Then it is neither deserved nor a surprise nor ambiguous when he is killed. It's just uninteresting.

MAIN REVIEW: The boyfriend character who gets burned up at the end is always a problem. How do you make him bad enough to sort of deserve it, but not so bad that it is absurd that his girlfriend and friends event want to be around him? Or do you make him "good" so it is a shocking twist? This movie fails there. He just is not a great guy. But he's also not a terrible guy. He's having trouble dealing with a girlfriend with *MASSIVE* trauma issues? Understandable. He kind of cribs his friend's idea to do a thesis on this community? Also skeevy, but not too high on the scale. And he "only" cheats on his GF under a huge amount of drug-induced duress bordering on outright threats, kidnapping and extortion. So all in all, it doesn't pack much of a satisfaction in him getting fried in the end. But he's also a crummy enough guy that you are not shocked at all. So it's not a twist either. Tough job to do but they didn't do it.

The biggest problem I have with the BG/GF dynamic here is common to many modern films: You're not married! You are just dating! You haven't been dating that long! So why do you care so much?! So why should we?! Why do you go on this trip together in the first place? Why do you become homicidal when he (only technically) cheats on you? OK, I am old fashioned I guess, but this was a problem as long ago as the show 'Friends': You can't really deal with anything heavy like "love," so it was just "feelings." Here you can't feed the patriarchy by having these two be newlyweds. Fine. But they are shown from the beginning to be in a weak, dicey relationship that doesn't seem to have been going on that long. So it is not enough to justify the distress, decisions, and ending of the BF and GF. You just kind of want to say, "Who cares?!" Where are the stakes? They are not even living together. No stakes because they don't have anything invested in their relationship, so why should we??

The other characters are stock friends. Fine. It is tough to get post-grad smarties like this to somehow stay in this absolute loony commune absent physical force, and they do an OK job of that. BF and the other anthropology student stay because they want to do their theses, GF stays to be with BF, two randos try to leave and get killed, and one kid stays to get laid then gets murdered. All in all, just when I was about to roll my eyes about them not just leaving, the movie did an OK job of getting them to stay long enough for their own reasons. But still there were some red flags at the end when the BF and GF should have said F this and ran off. But then they probably would have been smashed with the big hammer or kept by some other force, so fine. And they had lots of perfect psychadelic drugs to make it somewhat believable that they might stay.

I still liked this movie a lot because of the cool, "What if Viking-era pagan beliefs survived or were reborn?" idea. It was beautiful to watch. The acting was good. The idea had just enough twists and originality.

Totally worth watching, but because of the lack of any investment in the final two surviving characters (by the audience or between themselves) you just don't care that much after. And the ending is fairly predictable.… Expand