Ari Aster
Midsommar

Ari Aster, a young American film director, confirms his skill and talent in his second horror feature: “MIDSOMMAR: The Village of the Damned”.

Aster made his debut in 2018 with the controversial, imperfect but undoubtedly remarkable and terrifying “HEREDITARY: The Roots of Evil”.

Even his second film, released in 2019, has a duration that is considered excessive for the horror genre: 147min - Hereditary 127min - however, MIDSOMMAR confirms the great ambition of the young filmmaker who tackles a genre of its own in the cinematic landscape, the horror genre, with a strong authorial connotation.

In short, there is this group of American kids. A friend of her boyfriend (the protagonist, beautiful and sweet) is half Swedish and organizes a vacation/study trip to participate in a particular folk festival, organized by his family, celebrating midsummer, the “MIDSOMMAR” precisely.

The film is rather boring in the long prologue (where she even has a bad trauma things of atrocious family misfortunes. This theme is introduced at the beginning, the kids are still in America, but not developed, all this doesn't make sense to me, Ari why did you put this initial blow?) but it is cleverly built and studied. As we proceed in this midsummer nightmare in the sunny and solitary Swedish countryside, unsettling, unusual, bizarre elements are introduced. Set elements, trees, flowers, plants, constructions, the clothes of the village inhabitants, their, all too often, curious behaviors. It is already quite clear from the start that the solemn ceremony, held every 90 years, is damn important to these blond country folk who are indeed always kind and polite.

At first, even though the kids are immediately disturbed, they accept the extravagances, the uses and customs of the local Scandinavians. As time passes, the atmosphere becomes increasingly heavy, strange, too strange even for an ancient and solemn ceremony; let's say it clearly, the theme of pagan worship, ritual, and the occult is strongly felt.

For enthusiasts of the genre, there is an immediate reference to a cult English film from 1973, the magnificent and unforgettable: “The Wicker Man” with which it shares many aspects, perhaps too many, but it is certainly not a copycat, rather an inspiration.

As in his first film, the pace of MIDSOMMAR can be described, in typical classical music terms, as a “crescendo”. If you have the patience to “resist” the prologue, in my opinion, far too long, you are rewarded and drawn in as Aster reveals and plays his cards.

Again, as in Hereditary, the finale is powerful, of great impact, but while in Hereditary Aster veers into the supernatural demonic, with people suspended in mid-air, etc., in MIDSOMMAR he stays in the real world, no devil, no evocations of evil or the like.

Although less frightening than Hereditary, Midsommar is more ambitious, more mature, more compact, and thoroughly thought out and studied in terms of writing and execution. Excellent direction that ranges from sequence shots to overhead or reverse shots, long shots. The acting is generally not very incisive; the youngsters do not leave a mark, although the protagonist is quite good, but there is plenty of room given to the villagers and among them some old foxes, I suppose they are experienced Swedish actors, who knows.

Finally, if Hereditary is pure horror, thus not suitable for those who do not love the genre, Midsommar is more cross-genre and could appeal even to a simple film lover.

In conclusion, I would say the first is undoubtedly more frightening but this one turned out “better”. If in the third film, which we sincerely hope will be released as soon as possible, covid-fuck allowing, Ari Aster manages to reconcile the two things, we might witness a masterpiece.