Original Post

This post is a heavily-truncated version of the original post, as per the new rules.
As always, I recommend reading the original post. The original post contains minor spoilers.

Midsommar, like Hereditary before it, is a movie that doesn’t entirely fit into the usual frame of modern horror movies, whilst still being a work of horror. I’m still half-tempted to call Hereditary a work of terror, but where Hereditary scratches at that door and falls into the trap of horror once it’s shown its hand, Midsommar can entirely be called a work of terror.

The movie centres around a young woman who — along with her boyfriend and his friends — visits a midsummer festival in Sweden. It’s all very Wicker Man (the punching of women by “bears” in the summer of 2007 notwithstanding) and doesn’t attempt to distance itself from the tall shadows of the original; however, it can be argued that Midsommar might not have been as direct an attempt at calling back to movies such as The Wicker Man. I’d wager that Midsommar warrants more than enough originality stand on its own (bears withal).

Our main character, Dani (Florence Pugh), is working through the loss of her family. Although the movie allows Dani time, by skipping to the future following the murder-suicide, Dani fails to move past the incident. Add to the mix her wary — and weary — boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor), who feels trapped in the relationship, yet has been unwilling to leave Dani due to her circumstances so far, and her issues are compounded.

Dani is a relatable character, but I won’t go as far as calling her likeable, and I certainly won’t call her unlikeable. She’s a character who floats in the large gray area that the movie’s plot fences. Over time, she does start to become a little more likeable, but the most important takeaway from her character being so “neutral” is the power of Ms Pugh’s performance. She is excellent in this movie, and everyone else in the cast delivers good performances. Based off his performance in this movie, I wouldn’t mind watching a movie based solely on Mark (Will Poulter) under the influence of psychedelics.

One of the things that Midsommar handles quite well is balancing Dani’s personal journey with the celebration she is attending. It feels almost like she was meant for this festival — and she for it, as she works through the layers of grief her character experiences. There are runes scattered throughout the movie which add another layer of fun to the movie once you start picking them out and finding out what they mean. The story is a little vague, yes — but it arms with the tools you need to patch together an interpretation of what you just watched on screen (whatever screen that may be).

There are quite a number of themes explored within the movie, with Dani — of course — taking the fore-front. Some have said that the movie’s final scenes confused them in regards to her character, but I have to disagree. I think what we see is rather clear. There is a tight narrative, here, with ample space for our minds to wander.

Overall, I think MidSommar is a triumph. Since it’s been a while between my viewings of the movie, it’s hard for me to recommend one version over the other, but to be safe, I’ll recommend the extended cut in case there was more than a few extra seconds of snowfall which were not included in the original version.

Be prepared for daylight, cheer, food and drink (amongst other things). MidSommar comes highly recommended by us at The Corvid Review.

-- Crow out.

FINAL RATINGS:

• The Crow: 7.5/10
• The Raven: 8/10
• The Spotted Nutcracker: 8/10