Midsommar
Year: 2019
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Florence Pugh & Jack Reynor
Runtime: 138 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 18/07/19 (Legacy Review)
Director: Ari Aster
Starring: Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Florence Pugh & Jack Reynor
Runtime: 138 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 18/07/19 (Legacy Review)
Midsommar is a difficult film to recommend, but that does not mean it’s bad. It is a slow burning and relatively scare free experience, but it exudes dread. The biggest issue I have with the film is the plot, at nearly 2 and a half hours long the film has a plot that realistically could be told in less than 90 minutes without skimping on the details either. But the film treats the whole affair as something much grander than it actually is and ultimately does little else than act as an ego trip for director Ari Aster. But, the film is beautiful to look at, stunningly shot and has some fantastic performances, particularly from lead Florence Pugh who delivers arguably the best performance of her career. The few times you do see gruesome things they stick and have successfully managed to burn themselves into my brain, for better or worse. The opening of the film too, as amazing and horrifying as it is, is almost completely redundant when looked at in the grand scheme of things because it’s almost never referred to again, it does act as a catalyst for Pugh’s character behaviour but had the nearly 20 minute scene been removed the film would have been no different. This is certainly a film where the plot happens around the characters and not because of the characters. Midsommar is certainly a mixed bag and it’s unique kind of horror will certainly not land with everyone. But it goes without saying that this is The Wicker Man for the modern age and I expect that for one reason or another Midsommar will be remembered for some time to come.