I still don't know

Rating: 7/10 (11 August 2019)

I watched this movie in the theater, and upon it's ending I did not know how to react to what I had just witnessed. I couldn't decide if I liked the film or not, and I had never seen a film with such a contrast between gorgeous and grotesque imagery. Having already seen the director's other film Hereditary, I had an idea of what to expect in terms of content. Midsommar is basically a horror movie that does not present itself as a horror movie, which kind of makes it more disturbing.
I will not go into much detail because doing so would spoil parts of the film. However, there are a few specific things I wanted to point out. For one, towards the start of the film, there is a scene in the protagonist's apartment where we see a couple of intriguing (but somewhat gory) paintings in the background. They're easy to miss if you're not paying attention, but I'm pretty sure they were meant as foreshadowing. Later on, the central character has a nightmare in which disturbing aspects of a tragedy in her personal life and an event she had witnessed the day before are mixed together. This sequence is effectively upsetting but well put together. Also, the interior of the cabin which the main characters sleep in is decorated with illustrations, but the more you see them the creepier they seem to become. The final scene manages to look bright and colorful yet visually disturbing and extremely grotesque. The conclusion of the story itself can be a little confusing, but the director likely wanted to leave it open to the audience's interpretation.
I've seen a little bit of criticism on social media claiming that this film demonizes pagan/folk culture. While I understand that viewpoint, there have been many cults and pagan cultures to exist with bizarre rituals similar to that of what we see in this film. I don't suspect a lot of people are going to watch the film and think that Sweden's pagan/folk festivals are exactly like what's depicted in Midsommar. The May Pole is a real thing, though.
Finally, in comparison to Hereditary, Midsommar is more visually disturbing, while I found Hereditary to be more nightmarish. Also, Midsommar feels more surreal, partly because of the amount of drug use, which plays a major role in the film. Florence Pugh gives a petrifying performance that really seems to mirror that of Toni Collette in Hereditary. Both films contain a lot of aesthetically striking shots, and each film has a psychologically deep plot. Hereditary is a nightmare; Midsommar is an acid trip gone horribly wrong.