Sickness and depression for the sake of it

Rating: 1/10 (16 October 2019)

THEMATIC SPOILERS AHEAD:
This movie is about a Swedish death cult living in a modern day commune outside of Stockholm somewhere. The film set is a grass field with brand new- built structures that look exactly like a movie set or re-creation of some sort of historical village.
The theme, I believe is that cultural communities regard aging and death differently, and this movie goes way over the top in displaying suicide and violent mercy killing. You will be hit over the head with this message until you realize that the violence depicted is totally gratuitous and not redeeming in any way.
Despite earlier reviews that portray the female protagonist, Dani, as "transformed" by the carnage in this film, there is no such journey depicted. I know the writers were trying to make a high-minded culturally shocking film about loss, grief, depression, and death, but this movie fails to generate for me any interest in the American or British visitors to the commune.
First of all, the casting is poor. The young actors are flat, juvenile, and if they are supposed to be representative of Graduate students in America then we are in more trouble then I thought. The characterization of the young Americans in particular is poor. One young man is seen "vaping" during the cult festival, and constantly obsessed with sex and hedonistic pursuits. Hardly a scholar. He acts like teen from "American Pie."
Another character is portrayed researching his thesis by taking cell phone images, and being as intrusive as possible while ceremonies and deaths occur. Yet, he expresses no real outrage at this! He's concerned his pudgy, flat, dopey friend might now declare his thesis as the exact same study! In fact, none of the American students seem scholarly, of course maybe that's what happens when you choose "European Summer celebrations" for your Master's thesis. I was not convinced that any of these actors were academics.
Simply poor casting, and mediocre acting. If the basic background presented is not believable, I cannot buy into the subsequent acting.
The suicide theme as some sort of graceful "cross-cultural dying with dignity" is grossly distorted and excessively portrayed. It's simply too much. In fact, any of the lofty themes presented here are not pulled off at all. Despite all the gross, gratuitous shots of suicide, death, and mercy killing, we are supposed to believe that the protagonist Dani, whose family have recently died in a murder-suicide, and is ignored by her pudgy boyfriend throughout, is somehow transformed and at peace and accepted into the death cult. It's terrible and ludicrous.
The cinematography is very good, despite taking place on a glorified "Little House on the Prairie" film set. There are excellent costumes and elaborate rituals portrayed---- and that presents the final problem.
This movie is about 15 minutes too long and you should blame the overindulgence of the editor and writer, or director.
There are way too many gratuitous "open field" scenes with the cast and extras milling or dancing about.
Without any true transformation or redemption, even a maladaptive one, this film is profoundly and purposefully flawed.
Its pure depression and sickness with a faux happy ending.
I enjoyed "the Witch" and "Hereditary" immensely. Each was restrained in its presentation of dark themes. Midsommar is not like those films and I couldn't tell the same producers or team was behind it.
Sometimes with success comes bigger budgets, bigger egos, and overindulgence.