Official Trailer for Midsommar (2019)

Quoting A24’s exact plot synopsis, Midsommar follows Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) are a young American couple with a relationship on the brink of falling apart. But after a family tragedy keeps them together, a grieving Dani invites herself to join Christian and his friends on a trip to a once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival in a remote Swedish village. What begins as a carefree summer holiday in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.

increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.

The ending of that plot synopsis sums up this movie almost perfectly, though it leaves out how funny Midsommar is. Seriosuly, as outright disturbing as this film is, there were quite a number of moments that were laugh-out-loud funny throughout, which is something I did not expect at all headed into this. Somehow, the injected comedy bits here do not upset the tone of the film, rather adding in an uncomfortable manner (specifically later into the film). One thing I was surprised with was the minimalist use of gore, and while yes, the brutality of the gore and violence in this film cannot be denied, it is used very sparingly throughout which only adds to its impact.

Florence Pugh in Midsommar (2019)

The writing, directions and cinematography all deserve massive praise for what is accomplished here, in turning a bright and colorful summertime festival into a hellish vacation getaway. Seldom does Aster opt to shoot at night time for this film, instead instinctively choosing to shoot at the brightest times of day, with vibrant colors in a move that should not work as well as it does. The entirety of the final act left me feeling uncomfortable in my own skin as the madness of this movie continued to escalate, sadly rewarding me for paying close attention to background details and dialogue that did end up having a “payoff” by the end of the film. This entire film feels like so much care was put into the tiniest of details, leaving Easter Eggs in each scene for eagle-eyes viewers, nearly on the level of some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.

Performance-wise, Florence Pugh leads this cast incredibly well, with what I believe to be her best performance to date. Truthfully, I have not seen her in a role that I “loved” her in, though I thought she was good in both Lady Macbeth and Fighting With My Family, but neither were standout performances like what she accomplished here. The ways in which she exemplifies pure dread, sorrow, and utter indifference throughout is mesmerizing, as is her growth over the course of the two and a half hour runtime. Jack Reynor is a name I had completely forgotten about following his role in Transformers: Age of Extinction, a very bad movie, and yet here he is, five years later giving a genuinely great performance as Christian. William Jackson Harper (The Good Place, Paterson) and Will Poulter (We’re The Millers, Detroit) round out the main cast, both making big jumps from their typical roles, though Poulter has been taking more serious roles with Detroit and Black Mirror. If one actor is going to breakout following this movie, I truly hope it is Vilhelm Blomgren, who plays Pelle. I do not want to say much due to the inherent risk of spoilers, but Blomgren gives one of the more surprising performances here, with his character also being towards the top of the cast in terms of interest.