Midsommar
2019 · Directed by Ari Aster
Original language: English
- horror
- drama
- mystery
The story
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
What it’s like
Bright, overexposed daylight that never leaves the sky: pale meadows, white wooden houses and flower-crowned figures in saturated costume colour, all held in symmetrical, unhurried compositions that make the frame feel like an illustrated folk tableau. Ari Aster's camera lingers on faces and rooms in a way that gradually turns the cheerful sunlight unsettling, with a pulsing, drone-like score and birdsong-thin silence doing much of the work. Its vibe is sun-bleached dread, slow and deliberately uncomfortable, best suited to a daylight-heavy afternoon when you want something that feels both beautiful and wrong. Pacing is patient, building through long dinners, ceremonies and quiet exchanges toward one long, escalating climax; the emotional core is a grieving woman and her strained relationship with her partner, left reeling by loss. The intensity is high: graphic, prolonged violence and gore arrive late, there are sexual scenes and frequent nudity, and the dread is constant rather than jump-scare driven. Not suitable for anyone seeking something gentle. For viewers who like folk horror, ritual unease, and grief-tinged psychological tension.
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