Dani is the Star

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2020)

I have a good feeling that a lot of the people who dislike this movie for being similar to "The Wicker Man" are the same people who enjoyed "Joker". You know, that movie was just a blatant rip-off of "Taxi-Driver" and "King of Comedy"? Saying a movie is bad because of it's similiarities to other movies is a terrible take.
This movie is spectacular. I've never seen a movie where every shot just looks like a painting, something I could look at for hours on end. It's beautiful, thanks in part to the gorgeous landscape, but also to the incredible eye for beauty Ari Astar has. This movie is truly a work of art all on it's own without getting into the great plot and themes.
This movie isn't about a cult a group of stupid college kids. It's about Dani and her search for acceptance. The movie cares so little about the cult crazy aspects that it spells it out right for you in the beginning, with a tapestry of all the major events. It doesn't matter if you know what happens because it's about what Dani is going through that gets you there. Dani needs to find a place in a world that has taken everything away from her. She lost her parents, her sister, she has a terrible boyfriend, and she has no one to turn to but him. The cult invites her in, a very emotionally vulnerable person who just wants to feel accepted because time and time again everyone around her fails her. That's brilliant. That's why this movie is so slow-burn. People came wanting gratuitous horror. They got something more akin to a drama. I think that was marketings fault, in all honesty.
This movie is beautiful, it has believable characters, amazing themes of acceptance and grief, and a 9 star rating from me. I urge any of you to give it another watch, if you didn't like it the first time. Look at it from this different perspecive, and I think you'll find something to love in this movie.