The Worst Thing to Ever Happen to Swedish Tourism

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2019)

We're currently entering a new renaissance in horror, one which has largely been brought on by the many great filmmakers bringing their own unique voices to the genre. There's Jordan Peele who infused the genre with his own brand of social commentary in Get Out, Robert Egger's ability to explore the darker sides of human nature in The Witch and Ari Aster using the genre as a pretense to show us a dysfunctional family dynamic in Hereditary. And Aster continues to keep his horror anchored by his characters in his follow up film, Midsommar.
From the start of the film we're instantly thrown into an uncomfortable situation with Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) clearly living in a broken relationship. Dani fears that she has become too emotional and overbearing to him regularly calling him in tears, whilst he is just trying to find a way to easily end the relationship and is becoming more distant to her. But when she experiences a tragedy he decides that he can't leave yet and at the objections of his friends invites her to come with them on their planned trip to a Sweedish village.
When they arrive they're embraced by the locals who are about to begin a special festival celebrating life and rebirth and enjoy the scenery where there's always light which causes the days to blend in to one another. At first it seems pleasant, but very quickly this constant light switches from being beautiful to unsettling, to the point where we feel as if we're being drowned in light. It also becomes very clear that these pagan rituals are far more sinister and dangerous than they originally thought they would be and every person in the village is part of it. It's an environment similar to the Wicker Man, where there's a feeling that the threat is so encompassing that there's no way that anyone would be able to escape even if they realise they're in danger.
Ari Aster's strong attention to detail is on display throughout the film with each shot constantly conveying information to us. Shots early on are filled with so many hints as to what is to come, including a mosaic at the start of the film which seems to subtly outline the entire plot of the film. He also shows us so much through just the body language of the characters, with Christian constantly looking to the door whenever he's in the room with Dani always looking for a time to escape.
But one of my favourite touches was early on in the film during a strange drug trip a character mentions how he can feel the world around him breathing. Then throughout the rest of the film, there are moments where it feels the world around starts to move unnaturally like a lung inhaling oxygen. At times it was so subtle I wasn't sure whether it was really happening or if my eyes were just playing tricks on me.
Considering the constant sense of horror which looms over the entire film, there's also a surprising amount of humour throughout. A lot of this humour is brought in by Will Poulter, who seems to be one of the actors with an ability to improve every film he's in. Though there's also a lot of moments during the festivities where I was unsure whether it was being unintentionally funny with the film walking across that thin line between awkward humour and abject horror.
Though unlike Hereditary, which was well paced throughout with the story and character dynamics constantly evolving, the last third of this film does seem to stagnate. We already know exactly what's going to happen to these characters, but it's still stretched out by another 30 minutes of slowly going through the motions of these slow rituals. But even in the films slower moments it's still carried by Aster's distinct visual style and a fantastic lead performance from Florence Pugh, whose traumatic screams capture the same sense of complete anguish that Toni Collette did in Hereditary.
Oddly enough the film does technically have very positive undertones being a story about coming to terms with loss, understanding the cycle of life and the importance of having a strong emotional support structure. It's just that these lessons are told to us through creepy rituals and horrific acts of violence. It's a strange and unsettling film which definitely won't be for everyone, but if you're a fan of Hereditary and want another film which leaves you with a sense of dread then you should give this film a chance.