Her worst retribution

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2019)

Ari Aster is a man who understands horror in the truest sense of the word. With "Hereditary", his debut feature, he made a movie which filled me with an inescapable dread. Like the place where its occult theme came from, it felt like hell--and boy was it good. Here, Ari Aster shows us he still understands the meaning of dread. But this film is nowhere near as scary as "Hereditary". This is not a critique but an observation and its lack of conventional fear should be welcomed with openness.
Instead, "Midsommar" tends to go, believe it or not, towards a hardcore couple drama/thriller. It starts clearly with an egotistical him who does not put enough effort into her. And it has a burning finale representing both literally and metaphorically her worst retribution--she made her own justice. If you might find her justice satisfactory, I also found it a bit overworked. I did not expect such a convoluted, complex, cultural 2 and a half-hour film to climax towards such a specific first-world idea. Like it says on one of those signs in Looney Tunes that Bugs Bunny sometimes holds: "Was this trip really necessary?"
But who is him and her? He is Christian (Jack Reynor) and she is Dani (Florence Pugh). They go with a group of friends in Sweden for a special festival that happens once every 90 years. Christian and his friends are PHD students looking to work on their thesis more or less whereas Dani comes off a recent tragedy. I will not spoil it here but is devastating. Her cries of anguish will haunt you. Aster does not opt for the usual Hollywoodian "cry beautiful" nonsense. He wants us to feel her suffering and sympathize her--and trust me, you will.
As we join the characters into the Swedish pastures this movie becomes really beautiful. The shots of the green lands and the folkloric costumes and set design of the natives and various shackles, respectively are warm and inviting. The people are welcoming and indeed they do not despite the visitors. You feel this pagan cult has no hatred for life and humanity, they simply follow their traditions. It just so happens their traditions are, well, you'll see. The way Aster generates agoraphobia in the viewer is by keeping the shots close to its lead characters which often feel like they need intimacy. Even during the brief wide shots the landscape is still not contained and there are many bizarre dances and theatrics going on in the background.
And how interesting the cultists are. There are a few individuals which are given focus but most of their personalities come from their collective actions. The way they move and suddenly stop looking in a certain direction feels like they are a hive mind controlled by an unseen entity and their mystery and lack of historical insight make them more unknown and therefore more uneasy to be surrounded by them. Their part-fictive origin (the non-fictive part coming from some inspiration from Norse mythology) gives Aster freedom to create. This results in a few brief moments when he delves into classic shock methods as he attempts to inspire fear in the cult by reducing them to sadistic murderers. The reason why "Hereditary" was so unsettling is because Aster inspired himself 100% from real-life occultism and simply expressed its most dreadful rituals. Here, the film clearly lacks a certain "real events" power.
"Midsommar" is much more than a horror film. Its meanings go even deeper than "Hereditary" did. This does not necessarily means is better. Yet through its lead characters, it hints at notions of white male privilege, even racism (albeit birefly) and, of course, couple inequality. The ending will feel like a hurrah for every woman who is mistreated in a relationship even if it will make some more stable non-drama-ridden couples feel a bit uneasy.