Horror Movie Review: Midsommar
Cover of the movie,"Midsommar" made by Square Peg B-Reel Films A24.
Midsommar - is it really mid (mediocre or bad)? Let's start with the plot. Midsommar is about a girl named Dani, who is suffering after her family passes away from a carbon monoxide leak caused by her sisters successful suicide attempt, causing not only her sister to die but her mother and father.
Her boyfriend, Christian and his friends had been planning a trip to a remote village in Sweden just in time for a once in a lifetime Midsommar festival for their college thesis statements months prior to this tragic event. He had planned on not telling her because one of his friends had refused for her to tag along. Her boyfriend had felt guilty about her family dying and so he decided to invite her. Obviously his friends were not too happy about this.
They then fly to Sweden to meet friends of Pelle, one of Christian’s friends, at an open field. These friends of Pelle end up having them take shrooms (a type of drug), just for the fun of it (we never really understood why they had them take the shrooms). After some time, they start to hallucinate and eventually Dani falls asleep. When she wakes up, Christian and her friends tell her it's time to go.
So, they follow Pelle’s friends through the woods as they make their way to a seemingly warm village with many buildings and open space. The people there wore all white, some with flower patterns stitched into their clothes and pretty flower crowns on their heads. Everything seemed to be perfect. But was everything as perfect as it seemed?
My review of Midsommar is very mixed (Filippo’s opinion). The movie itself is filled with beautiful cinematography, symbolism, and overall is a very interesting story. The characters are very well developed, the actors especially the main character Dani played by Ari Aster, the director of Midsommar, does a great job of making you feel bad for some characters and making you despise other characters (Mark).
I also loved the theme of a woman breaking free from an unhealthy relationship (#feminism). The last thing I liked about the movie is the suspense because the whole time while you are watching the movie you are waiting for the next weird thing to happen.
Some things I disliked about the movie is that it’s a horror movie but the movie is almost never scary which is the main reason most people watch horror movies for the thrill factor. Another thing I disliked about the movie is the pacing. It has a very slow beginning and the movie itself is very long and feels drawn on at parts. My overall rating of the movie is a solid 7/10.
My personal opinion (Bella’s opinion) is pretty straight forward. If you’re looking for a good horror movie that involves trauma, a cult, some romance(?), characters you’ll learn to love/hate, this is the movie for you. As a personal horror movie lover, I actually quite liked this movie. Is it my favorite? Definitely not. But personally I enjoy horror movies that don’t involve ghosts or monsters.
Now, this movie is fairly disturbing considering the backstory. It contains strong sexual themes which makes everything even more disturbing. The cult that is depicted within this movie has weird traditions that will make you cringe. I’m not a big fan of gore in horror movies where it’s dragged on and overused. So, from someone who is kinda sensitive to gore, there isn’t too much which I appreciate.
The story itself can be confusing but I think it’s really interesting. So overall, I enjoyed it, it’s a good “horror” movie. The actors chosen did well with their roles, especially Florence Pugh, who played Dani. The pacing of the movie wasn’t too slow or too rushed, it kept you anticipating what weird event will take place next. So, I’d give it a good 8/10.
Overall, we both think it is a decent movie. It has its quirks and it most definitely is lacking some aspects but I think it’s worth watching. Does it live up to the hype? We think it's definitely overhyped but is still a great watch.
Actor Florence Pugh playing Dani in the movie "Midsommar."
This movie ended up sparking some fame for some of the actors/actresses’ within this movie. Most have been actors for quite some time but this movie really helped them get out there and make them more known. Like the actor for Dani, Florence Pugh, has been casted for an upcoming psychological horror movie, “Don’t Worry Darling.” She has also been in other big movies like, “Black Widow” and “Little Women.” Other actors like Will Poulter, who plays one of Christian’s friends, played in other movies like, the Maze Runner movie trilogy and upcoming movie “Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol 3.” Another actor, William Jackson Harper, who plays another of Christian’s friends, has played in “The Good Place” (TV show), “The Resort”, and “We Broke Up.”
Some of the actors that were chosen to act in this movie are quite famous and most are also famous in Sweden because some are Swedish. Even though this movie takes place in Sweden it was actually filmed in Brooklyn, New York for some of the early scenes and some later were filmed in Utah. It may have not actually been filmed in Sweden, but it was filmed in Budapest, Hungary.