What a long strange trip

Rating: 9/10 (5 November 2019)

For much of "Midsommar", I thought what I was seeing was good, but perhaps baggy and overlong.
I was wrong.
This is a movie that needs its mannered pacing and length. It's a true slow burn that rewards that rarest of quality these days: patience.
I am so glad I stuck it out. Ari Aster, I never should have doubted you. "Hereditary" was brilliant, and "Midsommar" arguably tops it.
"Hereditary" reminded me of "The Shining", and even more so, "Midsommar" presents Kubrickian attention to detail, and perfection in the framing of each shot, and the way facial expressions subtly tell their own story.
I was completely won over by this movie in the end. I felt like I had ingested the same drug the people in the movie had taken. The movie's slow burn approach and subtle hallucinogenic effects gradually take over, like an approaching acid trip. But even that might not blow your mind like this did.
Another masterpiece from Ari Aster.