Nice Visuals

Rating: 5/10 (15 July 2019)

I was extremely excited to see this movie after having seen Ari Aster's Hereditary. By the last leg of the movie, I was bored and waiting patiently for it to end. What went wrong here? Firstly, the plot is The Wicker Man. Westerners visit an archaic agrarian culture that ends up being a cult that commits human sacrifice for the "greater good." Once you realize this, it becomes pretty apparent halfway through what's going to happen to most of the characters, then only question being how. This really kills the suspense. Additionally, other than Dani, the characters are pretty underdeveloped. We've got the mean "bro" who doesn't like his friend's girlfriend, the geek, the bad boyfriend... The bad boyfriend is especially one-dimensional, and he Andy Dwyer's his way through the entire movie. But worst of all, the characters commit the common horror movie trope of making bad decisions and hoping for the best to their own peril. For example, the commune gives a sign of their ambivalence of towards human life very early on. Aside from two characters, no one sees these signs as any serious threat or deal-breaker aside from two characters. As more hints are dropped that the guests are in danger, most of the characters double down on their interest in the cult, especially the one character who should really know better. The commune's tapestries in the movie foreshadow major plot points. The characters see these tapestries, and are then surprised when members of the cult perform the same rituals that they've already seen described in said tapestries. I kept waiting for the escape plan part of the plot and it never came, so I suppose that counts as a small "surprise." This is a complete change from the excellent character development, surprising plot developments, and relatable trauma of Hereditary.
The movie's saving graces are it's well-done jokes and beautiful cult traditions (dancing, eating, architecture, art).