You're in for a trip

Rating: 9/10 (11 July 2019)

When I first exited Hereditary, the woman in front of me looked back at me and said "what the hell was that?!" And I just shrugged. For days later I had that enigma running through my head and after some investigation online, I gained an appreciation for the subtle horror and symbolism the movie presented.
Going into Midsommar, I expected the same challenging cerebral experience punctuated by periods of harsh gore and tension. What I got was decidedly a much more straightforward tale of a group of college students traveling to Sweden for a festival. It seemed simple... maybe too simple. Many aspects of the plot are literally shown to the audience in blatant drawings and banners, so it was a matter of waiting for those professions to come through and at the time it seemed tedious and predictable.
The main character is a young woman who is prone to being a drama queen and she's quite aware of it. She doesn't want to be a burden, but when an unimaginable tragedy strikes, she leans heavily on her barely-there boyfriend who's had his fill of being her emotional crutch. Soon after, she does her best to swallow her emotions to just "act normal" and even blames herself when the boyfriend plans the trip to Sweden without telling her (or initially inviting her). Out of guilt he does invite her, and to prove she's not a basket case, she agrees to go along. The audience clearly sees all the red flags they both present, but in regular horror trope form, the characters move forward when it's clear they should get the hell out of their situation.
As they get to Sweden and join the commune for the festival, a whole new series of red flags appear. The family/cult is creepy af, but it's thinly masked as friendly and welcoming. As with the woman's relationship, we clearly see this heading in an inevitably bad direction and we watch the group convince themselves everything is ok.
Even when events happen that are unquestionably horrific, most continue to stay the course and adapt to surroundings rather than leave. Just as in their relationship, omens and banners are literally put right in front of them, but they all become like the protagonist and ignore the signs.
Once the film reaches its conclusion, even though it's wildly predictable, what the viewer expected to be unquestionably terrible at the onset is suddenly a grey area because the film has been quietly playing mind games and emotionally manipulating us. In our minds we know the end is just as horrific as we thought it would be all along, so why does it also seem kind of positive? As many reviewers have stated, "I didn't know how to feel at the end." If that's the way you exited the movie, then it successfully worked its magic on you. You're just like the characters in that you're seeing all the obvious red flags, but going along anyway despite logic telling you you shouldn't.
So it's simple, yet it's not. If you focus on the simplicity, you'll probably be disappointed. Although the movie does a good job at drenching everything in tension & dread (you just KNOW things are gonna turn crazy eventually, everything is done at a very slow pace and understandably a lot of people will lose patience before the outright horror/gore kicks in. By that point, many will have given up on the movie and think it's been a waste of time even as the credits roll.
But if you view the (what seems like) excessive run time as the film slowly bending your expectations and your feelings about the outcome, you'll understand and appreciate what it's been doing. It's a movie that you either like, or you don't. If you find yourself puzzling over it - as even very negative reviews do - then deep down it effected you just the way it was intended. And just like the main protagonist in her relationship, you're giving it far more thought and consideration than your rational mind says you should.