Review of Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster

Upon writing this, I’m so shocked that it has been four years since Midsommar came out. I remember when Florence Pugh was just getting started in the film world and wasn’t this big mega star that she has become today.

When this first came out, I caught wind of it when I was in my ex-roommate’s home before we moved in together. She was playing it on the television in their tiny NYC apartment, and none of us were paying attention to the movie and were instead chatting and goofing off. I have no recollection of the movie from that one experience.

It was in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when I had moved back into my parent’s home and had nothing to do in between Zoom classes, that I found this movie on a streaming platform and decided to just go for it. I had to watch it alone, as none of my family was at home during that time—they were all essential workers in the American context.

I’ve been thinking about the movie more lately, which is why I decided to revisit it. Plus I was thinking about how Florence Pugh had such a big trajectory since it.

Here’s my review!

Dani and her boyfriend go on a trip to Sweden, but find themselves wrapped in up a big cult.

Our main character in this movie is Dani, who is an American with some major trauma she’s trying to unpack and process. Her sister, who was struggling with mental health problems, decided to kill her parents and herself, leaving Dani as the only one in the family still alive.

Dani struggles with this deeply, which effects her relationship with her boyfriend Christian. Only months after the tragedy, Christian and his friends have been invited by another Swedish friend, Pelle, to go see a festival where he’s from in Sweden. Turns out it happens only once every 90 years, so this is a literal once in a lifetime chance.

Christian planned to break up with Dani before it, but decides to invite her instead after they get into an argument. They head to the commune in Sweden, where they meet another British couple who had been invited by another member of the commune. First, they are offered mushrooms, which Dani reacts badly to after she sees her dead family.

The next day, a ceremony takes place where an elderly couple jumps off of a rock cliff and kills themselves. Turns out the one guy survived, and then the other members of the commune end his misery by crushing his head. The British couple does not take too kindly to this, while another member of the commune explains everyone does this when they hit 72 here.

One of the guys, Josh, is writing his thesis on the commune, but then Christian decides to do it too, stealing his thunder. Dani wants to dip and get out of here, but Pelle convinces her to stay. He confesses his parents are dead, but the commune has become hois family now.

The Brits demand to leave, and are driven away to the train station. Christian is then told that outsiders are often brought into the commune to have babies with the local girls, and he refuses to engage in the activities before him. His friend Mark pees on a sacred tree and is taken away, and while Josh goes to take pictures that he shouldn’t, he spots a man wearing Mark’s skinned face.

The guy beats him to death. Dani and Christian wake up the next day and are served a tea that causes hallucinations. Dani then participates in a maypole competition and wins, dubbed their May Queen. After drinking the tea, Christian participates in a sex ritual with a teenager, which Dani sees and has a break down.

Other women in the commune surround her and copy her tears. Christian tries to get out of there when he realizes what happens, but then finds Josh’s leg and a bloodied Simon in a barn. He’s knocked out by an elder with some powder, and we learn the final ritual is coming.

Turns out the commune needed nine human sacrifices, and four had to be outsiders. That was the rest of the gang, and then they needed four from the village. Because Dani was picked as May Queen, she has to pick between Christian and a commune member to be the final sacrifice.

She chooses Christian, who is then stuffed into a bear’s body and shoved into a wooden temple with everyone else. The temple is set on fire, and the members mimic the screams. Dani cries, but then smiles when everything crumbles to the ground.

Overall Thoughts

I didn’t enjoy Hereditary, which is my next review soon on the blog, as much as I did Midsommar. I find Midsommar to be pretty subtle until it really isn’t, which is right up my alley.

Like for me to enjoy horror films, there has to be more to it than jump scares. Psychological horror works really well for me, and I think this ia film that really feeds off of the psychological unease and tension that it builds up.

So if you haven’t watched this already, definitely go do so! I think it’s worth checking out at least once if you can stomach its content.

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