Never wanted to go to Sweden more and less

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2020)

SYNOPSIS:
A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
REVIEW:
Ari Aster is probably the most disturbed genius in the most spectacular way. He's officially a Director that I will get up to go see opening weekend. Florence Pugh is also now officially an actress I look forward to seeing in everything. This film is written and directed in such a superb way. You're eased into this easy-going atmosphere that has you feeling comfortable until they sprinkle in the horror and disturbing imagery as the screen goes "no don't worry this is totally normal." 99% of this film is done during the day which strangely makes everything much worse. It's similar to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre where they flipped the trope of "having to be dark to be scary" on its head. The same discomfort in an environment we're accustomed to feeling comfort. Then you have the film following Dani (Florence Pugh) who is going through a beautiful yet disturbing arc that also plays into the "don't worry everything is normal" commentary this film carries. The cast itself was great all around. Vilhelm Blomgren was great in his role and of course we can't skip over Will Poulter being the absolute comedic character. This was my second favorite film of 2019 and could've been my favorite any given year. All the pieces fall together and I get a certain feeling from this film that I've never felt from another film and that says a lot for me. If you are a fan of horror, this is definitely a must see and I hope this film is not ultimately forgotten like I feel it already has been somewhat. 9.2/10.