Mesmerizing...

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2019)

Ari Aster's feature length debut Hereditary was my favourite film of last year and became one of the best horror films I've ever seen. So I was very excited to hear about his next project 'Midsommar'. Did it meet my expectations?
Midsommar is about a couple who travel to Sweden with their friends for the midsummer festival but soon come to realise the strange and shocking practices the cult perform there.
As mentioned before, Ari Aster was on my radar since his last film therefore my anticipation for this movie was very high and I can say with full confidence that this film delivers. Do not go into this film expecting jumpscares or any other cheap tactics to scare you because Aster doesn't follow that formula. Here, he has made a film that goes along a more psychological route which delves deep into the mental and physical stability of our main character.
The performances are terrific all around. Florence Pugh gave an emotionally stirring performance that seemed very genuine. It's definitely her best performance so far. Her boyfriend, played by Jack Reynor, also gave a good performance. Throughout the whole film, you buy them as this couple whose relationship is on the rocks due to their dialogue delivery, tone and way they act around each other. All the other actors do a great job as well as the cult which provide some extremely uncomfortable moments.
Aside from the story, this film looks beautiful. The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous and the score alongside it creates such a magical and fantasy-like atmosphere which doesn't stray away from eeriness. Ari Aster's direction is immaculate, in particular a beautiful wide shot involving Florence Pugh and a lot of flowers. The general aesthetics are a visual treat and hypnotic to a major extent.
I feel the more and more you watch this film, the better the experience gets as there is so much to admire in terms of its story and characters. Much like Hereditary, this film brings themes of grief and pain but also adds meaning to bad relationships, the negative people around you and the sense of belonging. Aster explores these ideas through visual storytelling which makes me praise his vision as a storyteller. He clearly doesn't take the audience for granted and wants us to think and interpret Midsommar in our own way rather than spoonfeeding all the details.
Midsommar may be one of the weirdest films to come out this year but you can't deny the craft and thought process behind it. This is a movie that I would love to analyse further and get to grips with the multiple ideologies the film presents. This is undoubtedly one of the best films of the year and I'm extremely excited to see what Ari Aster can bring to the table next.