Imperfect, but talented attempt in deconstruction of horror genre

Rating: 6/10 (21 July 2019)

I'd like to start by saying that Ari Aster is great artist, in my opinion. Hereditary for instance was a true revelation for me. A new word in horrors and a proof that they are not necessarily need to be shallow and can be truly scary and artsy (in the very best way possible) at the same time. I'd like to think of his debut as a deconstruction of horror genre (successful, unlike this one), more specifically: movies about demonic possession. Not to get into details: it was atmospheric, scary, clever and even funny towards the end - all the aspects of horror, in other words. Besides it had some great character development, deep psychological take on family drama and many more. Why do I get so much into the first one? Well, let's have a look how Midsommar fails by comparison.
Being, again, in my opinion, an attempt of deconstructing horror genre (here - about cults) it also, like in previous one, has really cool insides and analysis of romantic relationships, dealing with trauma and personal take on the family as a concept. Again, great cinematography, the actors are all top notch, interesting story even, exciting conflicts established etc. BUT! Like his characters-anthropologists Ari Aster here is not able to finish his thesis. Why? Because the movie is getting lost eventually in all the genre features and attributes. It's all in the bad (in my opinion) finale: character development? Forget it, the main character becomes just a simple offended girlfriend and not a complex character worth sympathy as she was introduced at first. Deconstruction of a genre? More like typical example, representative of one if you will. Deep analysis of psychological family drama? Try just a precursor of this banal horror story to reveal itself in the most ordinary fashion.
All the more disappointing it was for me that all of this could have unfolded beautifully since the movie had it all. But for the ending. However I would recommend watching it due to the talents involved and most probably will watch director's cut myself if it ever arrives.