A fantastic simulated acid trip that could have worked more on the narrative

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2019)

There is no dearth of critical reviews online hailing this movie as a masterpiece . The verdict seems to be this has surpassed even Aster's previous venture , Hereditary, in terms of sheer brilliance. Well, personally speaking, the film no doubt is something to be not just seen but rather experienced as a trip. 10 minutes of watching Midsommar offers more on the visual psychedelic palette than all the recent jump scare based run of the mill horror movies combined. But I would still rank Hereditary a notch higher than this.
Hereditary still remains the best horror movie I have seen in the last 10 years. In terms of motifs, Midsommar definitely inherits from Hereditary such that fans of the older movie can spot them in the new one again and get the same level of satisfaction. However, Hereditary also had a more structured plot that sets up a lot of subtle things in the beginning and have them pay off very effectively as the film progresses. The conflict established between the central characters of the mother and son, brought on by a family tragedy, serves to properly guide the decisions of the characters . In fact, the film's ending even justifies the namesake Hereditary, without going into spoilers.
In Midsommar, a lot of these tropes seep in as well: the family tragedy, the conflict and misunderstanding between the two lead characters who are supposed to love each other. However, they don't pay off with the same efficiency. While I was being smothered with the crazy beautiful visuals ( and really they are very good ) , I couldn't help but notice that the plot could could have had a better resolution. The characters did not seem guided by motivations that made much sense, save for the black guy and the Swedish friend. The side characters here had very specific traits: the curious academic who is only driven by research ( William Jackson Harper) and the comedian ( Will Poulter). Also, as a graduate student myself, it takes some suspension of disbelief to accept that the lead characters are doctoral researchers. Except for William Jackson Harper, everyone else looked quite young for the character age and acted more like freshmen rather than grad students. But again, this in particular is a minor nitpick.
In terms of praise, I guess the visuals are the top draw. The enchanting camerawork, that seems to fluidly distort space and time, helps sell the idea that the film is meant to be a simulated acid trip centered around a cult in Sweden. There are zero jump scares. The horror element comes from the insinuation that this acid trip started on a high note but gradually descends into profound chaos and dread.
So, on the basis alone of getting to experience an acid trip , I would definitely recommend this movie.