A bizzare trip

Rating: 9/10 (15 March 2020)

Midsommar is genuinely mind-blowing. The film is based on real Swedish traditions, combined with disturbing and extremely gory rituals.
A group of unsuspecting Americans are introduced to the cult by their friend Pelle. It is revealed later that Pelle's motive all along was to sacrifice them.
The supporting characters disappear pretty quickly and don't play a major role in the action, fact that makes us forget about them until the end, when we meet them once again. While they are taken away, Dani and Christian are the center of our attention. It's very interesting to see their barely-there relationship slowly fall apart, while both of them go through multiple trials within the community. The decay of their love story culminates when Dani, as the new May Queen, chooses Christian to be sacrificed.
While the movie is long and slow-paced, I never felt bored while watching. If anything, the slowness of the action only added to the ever-growing feeling of dread.
Another aspect of this movie that I really enjoyed was the setting and the visuals. Most of the film's action takes place in a picturesque region of the Swedish countryside, where the grass is a vivid shade of green and the sun never sets. Everyone is dressed in traditional clothing and their buildings, while charmingly simple, are architectural masterpieces.
Then comes the unsettling gore. While the film rarely trades sunshine for a moody ambiance, it remains eerie throughout its entirety. It is truly unique for a horror movie to combine colorful flowers with dismembered bodies.
My only complaint is the fact that Dani's family situation never gets addressed properly. We are only told that her sister is bipolar and that she has a habit of sending creepy messages, but we never truly understand why she killed herself and their parents, let alone why she committed the act in the way she did. To me, it just felt like they wanted something tragic to happen to the main character before the main events and this was the easiest way to do it.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It is multi-dimensional and thought-provoking and it perfectly combines visual beauty with utterly disgusting images. Don't watch if you have a sensitive stomach.