Dazzling and disturbingly

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2019)

As we went out of the theater yesterday, after watching Midsommar, my wife and I were in utter shock and out of words. My palms and my armpits were sweaty, she wanted to vomit and we felt completely shut from the outside world around us.
Midsommar is a deeply disturbing movie, but at the same time so hypnotic you can't stop but look as the event of the movie unfold, even when the most gruesome scenes happen. Before saying anything more, I would like to say that if you are easily scared, feeling depressive or having issues in your life, this might not be the best movie to go watch.
Now, what to say ? The opening act is, I believe, the most frightening scene of the whole movie and probably of many movies I have scene in the past few years. Without spoilers, here, is a scene that you feel could happen to almost any normal person: no demons, no evil spirits, no strange supernatural force at play. Just the pure harshness of loss of loved ones, in a demoralizing scene, weirdly beautifully shot, that will leave you wounded through the whole movie.
This scene, the death of the parents, is the kick start for the event of the movie and how the main character (Dani) has to deal with grief and the failure of her relationship. The rest of the movie is her slow descent into this peculiar family of Harga which she becomes part of, as her boyfriend and his friend are piecemeal punished for their selfishness, cowardice, rudeness and candor. She embraces the horror of Harga and joins the community, as she is completely losing a fragile mind to become strong with these eerie people. Dani finds another familly, another home, another place to share her feelings, her trauma and how death is part of life. Destroying and relinquishing everything that she had before, including her sanity.
This movie is incredible for this slow descent into madness after grief. We feel Dani's loss at the beginning, which reinforce the fact that we identify to her so strongly. The shots are beautiful, and we laugh, cry and are shocked, mesmerized through this deeply disturbing movie, this swirl of emotions so bizarre and gut wrenching.
A psychological horror movie, beyond what you probably saw before. Sensitive people be careful. (Not approved by the ministry of tourism of Sweden).