Ari Aster rolls a few risky dices on "Midsommar" which seems to work out for him very well.

Rating: 8/10 (7 June 2020)

"Midsommar" is, without a doubt, a bold move ahead in terms of horror movies despite the director/writer Ari Aster presenting it to be more of a terrifying fairy tale than a horror movie. With visually pleasing scenes and brightness toned to its utmost colors, darkness is no longer the only medium of fear.
Its lengthy runtime of 148 minutes holds it tight by appealing the audience visually if not emotionally. The movie makes it clear that the pleasing smile plastered across its face hides terror beyond its facade. The risks that went into the making of the film cannot go unbothered. The aesthetic of it is very pleasing and the cinematography spells out to be masterful but the frames seem to be hanging on the whitest scale of the color palate. Had it been any brighter, it would've simply been unwatchable. The film walks that bare line and survives the fall with astounding outcomes.
It can be very hard to buy into the customs of a cult but "Midsommar" explains the conditions that would lead one to join them, fully accepting their norms. Ari Aster, who expects his scenes to be dark-humored, is benefited whether the audience is terrified by his presentation or is merely giggling at it. With every other hideous ritual Dani, the protagonist, settles down to participate with the members of the cult, she can be felt distancing away from her past and growing nascent roots in a new place that she might learn to call home. Death plays a vital role throughout the film and with every other death that Dani witnesses, she seems to cope with it differently. The atrocious echoes of the villagers mimicking cries sympathize and spread out the pain, the unsettling sacrifices made; all help the film sharpen its ends in the field of discomfort. The movements of the camera imitating the pleasing moves of all dancing trick us into believing that we might just be one of them. But it is not more than a distraction from the elaborate allurement that "Midsommar" is.
Florence Pugh's daunting cries do nothing but elevate the aesthetic of the entire film. It is clear to see that the Pugh carries the weight with ease. Not only does "Midsommar" come with a killer cast but also a killer score. Composer Bobby Krlic seems to be providing the film what it needs the most, a spectacular, dramatic score. Scenes, where the cries are submerged into his score, seem to engage the viewers better.
Like it or not, "Midsommar" is a trip one cannot return from. For long the images that haunted us had been stuck in the darkness or filtered but "Midsommar brings it out bright and lets it blind our eyes. Walking the borderlines of being looked away from, it is a calamity captivating your eyes just to poke it when the time comes. It is just another A24 high point.