Plagiarizing of a familiar story.

Rating: 6/10 (1 November 2019)

I feel quite upset that Ari Aster, the director, did not once mention in his interview in the DVD that his story was inspired by THE WICKER MAN. There are so many similarities to this movie (filmed in the UK in 1970s) that it's difficult for me to watch Midsommar without referring to the original film on which Aster surely must have based his story? Even the final scene of the burning construction is straight out of the 1970s film yet Aster makes absolutely no mention of this brilliant far more scary film when discussing his own. Because I saw The Wicker Man when I was a teenager in the 70s it made a huge impact upon me. Therefore Midsommar just does not cut it. It lacks the suprises, the twists, the horror. Midsommar is far too gory and visual to be truly scary. There are so many clues along the way. The name of the Swedish village Halsingland sounds like Hell's Land. I mean, who could not have put two and two together when watching this? Although I very much enjoyed Florence Pugh's chilling performance in LADY MACBETH I found she was far too intense and over-reaching in this role. Nothing seems to connect: what happened to her parents and sister? And why? It does not make any sense to randomly have Pugh experience this trauma if it does not relate to the film. I am sure this will become a cult but not for any of the reasons why it should be.