Very Good

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2019)

I would say the director / writer, Ari...Aster? Gets his influence from Stanley Kubrick. I'm not saying he's at that level but I can see the influence and he's building a nice catalogue of work, possibly heading in that direction. The things the director is strong in are visuals, mood, and tension, and both Midsommar and Hereditary follow a decent storyline that tracks.
While the director's films are good, would I say they're enjoyable? I don't know. I preferred Midsommar to Hereditary and found it a nice evolution. Hereditary was really good, just a little too at 11 the whole time, and just deep into the darkness and despair, and some of its creep factor I've already seen too many times. Midsommar was a refreshing storyline, and I'm impressed that he could make a film so vibrant and colorful, so utterly dark in its own way. That is definitely talent.
I'm curious what the director could do with a bigger budget given how much he can do on a small one. I would like to see the director go a little more in the direction of The Shining, as I think he might have the visual capability, I would just say he needs to work on his roller coaster story building skills. People want to go on a ride. His movies are kind of like taking a wrong turn on the road into say, Chernobyl, and never finding your way back to the main road. Some people like that, and would be disappointed to see Ari go more mainstream, but, you can't live on indie checks forever.