Red Summer Nights

Rating: 10/10 (23 July 2019)

So you want to be a writer-director. In film school you develop your passion project idea. You work on it, meticulously rewriting every line, every word until it is perfect. You run through it countless times, trying to get the pacing just right. And if you're lucky, after 10 years of working on it, constantly improving it, your script actually gets picked up and you get to make your film. And it's a smash hit! So now the studio throws a ton of cash and tells you to make another one. And you only have two years to get it done. Previous victims of the sophomore slump include Neil Blomkamp following up "District 9" with "Elysium" and Dennis Hopper going from "Easy Rider" to "The Last Movie". I felt fearful for Ari Aster's second feature length film was to be released a year after his first, despite "Hereditary" being one of the favorite films of 2018. Seeing "Midsommar", I felt a different kind of fear.
Mental disorders, anxiety, grief, cults, and rituals are all notable aspects of both of Aster's films. The similarities between the two are especially prominent in the first act, before the Americans venture to Sweden, but this is not a rehash. Though "Midsommar" does not have any scenes that are as profoundly impactful and gut-wrenching than the accident sequence in "Hereditary", this film is overall a more complete film. Most noteworthy, is that unlike Aster's previous film which goes off the rails in a laughable manner in the final act, "Midsommar" manages to drive up the tension and stakes whilst remaining believable. All the laughs - there are a plethora of dark humor moments - are intentional. Toni Collette, as the female lead of "Hereditry", had a memorable, manic performance, though, understandably, some found it to be over the top and ridiculous. Florence Pugh's character is much more subdued, but she gives an equally powerful performance. A director is responsible for pulling out the best performances from the actors and Aster has a perfect record thus far.
The setting of the film is a folksy village in Hälsingland, Sweden full of flower children in folk clothing, folk dancing and folk singing and folk everything else-ing. One of the American visitors is quite unnerved by the fact that even at 9 pm, the sun in shining brightly in a bright blue sky. One the surface, it may seem like an animist utopia, but seeing one villager playing a flute as another two are locked in an overly long and intimate embrace, you get the sense that it is all too good to be true. As you spend more time with in the commune, you learn about all their bizarre and disturbing traditions.
Horror, like sci-fi, works best when used as metaphor or allegory and about more than just killing people and scaring the audience. "Hereditary" went a step further and for most of the film is a family drama lacking overt horror elements. There are more traditional horror elements - body horror and gore - throughout "Midsommar", but it still retains a strong emotional core. A seemingly utopian love-empathy cult is the perfect setting for a break-up movie. Dani is an anxious person who needs a lot emotional support, but her boyfriend, Christian - and with a name like that, should you really be going to pagan villages? - is not as invested in the relationship. Their relationship deteriorates as does the situation in Hälsingland.
Once again, Aster shows how he is a master of unease and tension. The feeling of dread and danger builds slowly over two and half hours. Though at times there might not be a lot going on in the foreground, the cinematography is so wonderful, that the film never drags. Every shot either has something weird going on in the background, or is beautifully composed, or is it simply cool. Characters take psychedelics and the special effects of them experiencing the visual hallucinations - faces being distorted or the breathing trees - is top notch and hypnotizing without going over the top. His depiction of anxiety via Dani is also spot on. The opening shot is of bright summer Swedish nature with folk singing which suddenly cuts to silent winter scene. Aster often uses this technique of edits with sharp visual & aural contrast which stops the audience for getting a proper emotional footing. And of course, there is a perfect creepy horror score that incorporates the local folk songs. There are no jump scares, but meticulously crafted mood.
Ari Aster is a filmmaker to look out for. For a second time he has mastered cult horror and I hope he will branch out and make just as great films in other genres. Hopefully, he teams up once again with cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski, because that duo is something special. A lot of movies are created to be entertainment, which is especially true for the horror genre. "Midsommar" is not just entertaining, it is art.