MIDSOMMAR (2019) DIR. ARI ASTER A FILM REVIEW BY ANNA HAMES-WATSON

20/5/2021

Welcome to the third year of our annual cooperation with the University of Derby These reviews were written by second-year students on the Creative and Professional Writing Programme at the University of Derby as part of their ongoing non-fiction work. Today we welcome Anna Hames-Watson to the site with her review of Midsommar directed by Ari Aster.

Midsommar (2019)
Dir. Ari Aster,
USA,
138 mins

Midsommar stars British actress, Florence Pugh as Dani. A woman who follows her boyfriend and his friends to Sweden to attend a festival. The movie is directed by Ari Aster, an up-and-coming horror writer/director since his feature film debut in Hereditary (2016). After watching Hereditary I had no doubt that whatever and whenever Aster released a film, he had both written and directed I was sure to be going – no matter what kind of film.

Midsommar began as a basic screenplay pitched to Aster as a slasher movie among Swedish cultists. Aster took original elements from the screenplay but was mostly inspired by a difficult break up. The movie itself grossed $47 million with positive reviews highlighting Florence Pugh’s performance as Dani Ardor and also Aster’s superb direction.

Midsommar is one of those films that worms itself into your brain, it makes you question everything. and I had to watch it more than once to even grasp what was even going on. The film is packed with so many easter eggs and twists that could result in a very confused audience. After arriving in Switzerland, the group of Americans are later exposed to the local’s true colours and their disturbing practices within the festival.

Many things happen within the film, but as I said – it is a slow burner. The events do not really pick up until the second part of the film. The gruesome murders and the pagan rituals that are stomach turning. Though if you can manage the gruesome scene of Dani’s dead parents and her sister who has a hose taped to her mouth in the opening: nothing else in this movie could you phase you. The group witnesses many Hargan rituals including attestupa: in where two elders jump from a cliff and onto a rock – unfortunately it doesn’t go as planned and one of them has to have their head bashed in with a mallet (obviously).

It is probably one of the most underrated films of 2019. Though I do think the film is like marmite: you either love it, or you absolutely hate it. I think the run time may have something to do with that – its 138 minutes and it is a slow burning piece, and it takes a while for anything to really ‘happen’. I think for most audiences it will turn them off simply because its not as fast paced as most films of that year.

The movie begins with a mural, which actually subtly explains the plot from Dani’s point of view. Which also leads to me telling you that every piece of art work in this movie is so important. Whenever there is art within any scene take note of it! Every little piece that you think is insignificant is actually some sort of clue or hint to something later in the film. For example, the picture above Dani’s bed of the girl and the bear eludes to final scenes.

Overall, the cinematography of the film is astounding. The colour palette adds to the feel of the film too, with the colours changing from wintery toned blues in America to bright and warm colours when they reach Sweden, and the cult.

The movie itself is a descent into madness, for both Dani and the audience. She is a traumatised individual who has experienced not only the murder of her parents but also the suicide of her sister. Her boyfriend of three or four years should have been there to support her – instead, he was planning on jetting off to Sweden to befriend the Harga cult and leaving his depressed and traumatised girlfriend in America. On. Her. Own. He eventually feels guilty enough to bring her along, where they essentially spend the rest of the movie tripping on drugs. From the beginning, Dani is questioning everything around her to in the final scenes, she is just accepting the Hargan way of life. In the script the direction for Florence Pugh was: ‘A smile finally breaks onto Dani’s face. She has surrendered to a joy known only by the insane. She has lost herself completely and she is finally free. It is horrible and it is beautiful.’ Dani lost herself after the final events of the film and she just began to accept that this is her life now.

There is a transition at the beginning of the film that just makes me do a silent cheer every time I watch the movie. It is when Christian’s friends agree to let Dani go along with them to Sweden, she goes from opening a door to a room in an apartment to opening a door that leads into a plane’s bathroom. It is honestly one of the greatest and minimally creative film transitions I have ever seen.

Other hidden elements are scattered throughout the film, such as when Dani is crowned the May Queen she is taken on a platform and performed around by members of the cult – and in the background of the scene, in the trees is Dani’s dead sister, with the exhaust pipe in her mouth. In an earlier scene, Christian’s Swedish friend Pele is talking to Dani about going to Sweden, and above his head is some kind of house plant that actually looks oddly similar to the crown he wears at the end of the film. There is a picture in Mark’s apartment of the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, again eluding to what happens to him after he disrespects the cults precious tree.

Midsommar is one of those films that not every understand or enjoys but I feel everyone can identify that it is within the same vein as films such as Gone Girl (2014). Is the main character way out of line? Possibly. Do we agree with their actions? Not completely (though I would argue Christian definitely deserved being sown into that bear suit and burnt alive). But these types of films have you saying, ‘good for her!’ at the end. Midsommar is a masterpiece of colour and symbolism and reminiscent of pagan traditions and for the sheer complexity and beauty of the film I give it a solid 8 out of 10 stars.

by Anna Hames-Watson

Anna Hames-Watson is a full-time student in Derby studying in both creative writing and film and TV studies. Her earliest memories of films being the ones that other kids were scared of (Coraline remains one of the best creepy films). Her love of horror grew as she sneakily became obsessed with the likes of the Saw franchise and Scream.

When she isn’t fantasising about all those traps and murders in horror films, she spends her time with her head in the clouds, whether it be a book or her own work.