(Yes, I'm back with another review, for REAL this time. I'm  going to try to do more reviews this year, I really miss doing these and its way better than sad posting and longing for everyone to go back to making personal websites with actual individuality instead of all maining the same quirky nerdy "I like this thing, therefore I am t this thing and if you don't like said this thing you just fear gay people and blacks." personality,  to be fair I don't think the general online pop nowadays can make individually interesting looking personal websites, I'm pretty sure most of them will end up looking like the same oatmeal color scheme look aesthetic anyways.. but those are topics for different blog posts later...)

I remember hearing about Midsommar around last year, I stumbled on the trailer when I was randomly just watching a bunch of movie trailer on youtube. (I find out about alot of cool indie movies that way, so go figure) When I first saw the trailer I knew I was really going to enjoy this movie, with all the colors, the nature flowery aesthetic, mixed with jarring spooky elements. Although, I really wanted to see the movie when it first came out, I couldn't because there was no theater playing that was close by, and even if there was I had no one who could take me, since my older sister doesn't like horror movies...oof!  I was thinking about using other means to watch it, but  I didn't feel like batting away virus and ads if I try to pause, or rewind the movie. So, I just waited until the day the stars would align for me to able to watch Midsommar, and 2 days ago was that day! I was on prime video and I had finished watching The Boys (which isn't very good btw) and went back to the front page to see if I could watch ANYTHIING better, the lord above blessed  me with Midsommar! (yee yee)

At first I was pretty surprised that I found Midsommar labeled for prime, but after looking into it some more I realized that most of the A24 movies are free on amazon prime, so lucky me! (yeet) I watched it and really like it, so imma gonna talk about it...

BIG FACT:

(This review contains spoilers for MidSommar you can skip to

the TL;DR section that doesn't have spoilers, You have been told)

MidSommar is about a young college student named Dani, going on a trip to Sweden for the midsummer festival with her boyfriend, Chris and his friends, Mark, Josh and Pelle, a native of Sweden. While in Sweden, Dani uses this time to take her mind off the fact that her sister and parents were killed in tragic murder/suicide incident. Dani has been an emotional wreck since and has been going to Chris for support, but she starts to wander if she's being too emotional and clingy because Chris and have a rocky relationship. Chris has been completing breaking up with Dani since even his friends find her emotionally taxing, and he was going to break up with her before the trip but instead he chicken out and invited her along  on the trip instead. While in the begining the people of the village, Dani and Co. go to visit are seemingly harmless, being super friendly and greeting them with open arms, it doesn't take long for things to go sicko mode...

I don't want to go into the story in too much detail while I'll still be going over some parts, I really do think this movie is something better experienced than read on a blog of a 20 something. I think the story in this movie is well told, I like how it sets up the viewer into thinking that everything's just chill, but then comes it real quick with a bang with a really big shock. The shocks in this movie aren't done for the sake of it or to make it edgy (cough The Boys cough 13 reasons why*cough*) The way the characters met their ends make sense usually doing so by breaking a rule or disrespecting an aspect of the villager's culture/traditions. I also find it neat how the movie show the traditions of the villagers but doesn't display it a way that's be like "Oh isn't this weird" its more like' Oh this is what these people do it happenes"--like the characters judge the villagers more the movie itself does if that makes any sense.

The story gives off a really good atmosphere, it has a good mix of curious, whimsy and unnerving. While some might say that the movie is vague, I think it gives the right amount of information without giving too much anyway, you can find a lot of clues if you look hard enough, plus this is a horror movie so in my own opinion it's okay for it to have some unanswered questions and an opening ending because real fear comes from the unknown. 

The story never really paints the villagers as evil, which is another aspect of story I liked, I liked how it showed the villagers being nice and understanding even when characters were dying off, they weren't making it like the villagers were only nice on the surface, while being truly evil on the inside. The movie showed that villagers were still people how liked to dance, take care of children, and had feelings.

There were some story points that the movie could have spent more time on, like Dani's family, I would have liked it if we got more backstory about her relationship with her sister was (when she was a live of course) and how Dani's parents were like were they good, caring, loving parents or were they just as distant and heartless as Chris, Did Chris get along with Dani's parents, did he get along with her sister well. While I would have liked for the movie to explore these questions, I feel like if it did than this movie would just be Hereditary just with a brighter aesthetic. The other plot line I had a problem with is the student thesis plotline, where Chris and Josh have rivalry over who gets to do the student thesis. That plotline came in ind of in the middle of the movie and then went once Josh was killed off, and it never was really resolved because well...both Josh and Chris die so..yeah. I felt like the movie could have remain the same without the student thesis rivalry plotline.

Dani - I liked Dani, despite her being a little overly emotional at the start of the movie (which I guess is kind of warranted since her whole family died). I could relate her on some level, there are times where I feel overwhelm by emotions, it would be cool if I could go to an aesthetic summer place and wear a pretty outfit just so I could "ree" my emotions out without worry about being judge or having others worry about me. I also like how out of all the characters she the one the ends up vibing  with the locals the most, to the point where she is crowned may queen. Dani never really makes fun, mocks, or over-analyze anything the locals do, after she sees the local share in each other pain after the old man breaks his leg trying to ascend she becomes fascinated with the locals, and even starts to help with/ participate in their traditions without judgment.

 

Josh- a "friend" (or at least a classmate) of Chris who goes to the  midsummer festival for research for his student thesis, while he wasn't overtly disrespect to the villagers at first, he was trying to over-analyze the villagers actions, and made them seem more alien than human. His character is a lot like Chidi from the good place, so I don't really have much to say, not saying that I didn't enjoy his character. Josh's performance was really enjoyable and well done.  

 

 

Mark- (least fave) another friend of Chirs, who seemly only comes on the trip just so he could bang foreign woman. He's the one who picks and mocks the community's tradition the most, shows the most disinterest in the culture, he even caught accidentally use a scared burial ground as bathroom by mistake. While the other characters seem pretty grounded with their performance, I think Mark's preformance was a little too cartoony for setting, like while everyone else felt like a person, Mark's character just felt like a character.

 

 

Pelle- is a native to Sweden, the one who invites the group to the midsummer's festival, he also the only one in the group who treats Dani with respect and kindness, he seems to be awe of her beauty and knows there's something special about her since he's often seen drawing Dani, in retrospect it makes sense that he would be the one understands Dani the most since he seems to be in-tune and understanding of his emotion since he grow up in the community.

 

Connie and Simon- couple from London, who also came to enjoy the midsummer's festival. Simon and Connie are pretty chill until the elder ceremony, which they got really freaked out at.. I think Connie and Simon's character serve as a contrast to Dani and Chris's relationship, while

Dani and Chris's relationship is on the rock, Connie and Simon were about to get married.

 

Villagers- the people who live in the village are quite a character themselves, the villages pride themselves on harmony and togetherness, if one feels a strong emotion, they'll all share the emotion together as group, they'll wait until the head at the table starts eating before they eat, and they raise the children together as a village quite literally.  The villagers love their culture so much that they are willing to share it with outsiders.

 

I think the visuals is were this movie really stands outs, it's so bright and pretty, I like how most of the scenes are taken during the daytime, and despite the usual the most spooky moments take place in mid day instead of night.  The visuals really help boost the contrasting themes the movie has (at least visually) like how the movie feels very whismcal, but when someone/something is whismcal it's very easy for said person and or thing to be creepy to some as while, also when something is really beautiful, I think it gives off the same vibe as when something is really horrifying. I also like how this movie is very bright (even too the point to were it's looks like someone when sicko mode on the exposure levels with the camera), again the brightness adds to dreaminess and guess blinding light can be scary in it's own right too.

  

Speaking of colors and brightness, I like how in the start of the movie, they use dark, cold, dull blues to show the loneliness and isolation that Dani feels in her morden apartment. It also gives off the classic foreboding feeling and it's pretty tense giving that at the start Dani is getting alot of eerie  emails from her sister. Another detail the movie does the show the loneliness and ioslation of the beginning scene is when Dani is on the phone with Chris the camera zooms in on Dani's face as she trying to keep her cool, while talking her boyfriend. This scene also emphasizes how big and noticable Dani's emotions are and how Chris seems to be completely unaware of her feeling (or is probably just ignoring Dani's feelings). The scene also doesn't show Chris on the other side of the phone like how phone call scene with couples usually go in movies, again showing the distant and dysfunction between Dani and Chris.  

The cold blues at the start of the scene contrast between the warm, green, sunny colors of the midsummer festival, where everyone is happy, friendly, and is out in the open with their feelings and emotions. The villagers are often seem wearing a lot of white, to show that they are light, carefree and almost pure (to a piont), while Dani and others wear dark colors in their modern everyday wear most of the time.

Midsommar also showcase some really amazing and authenitic looking european art, there are murals and tapestries all around the village, and they usually predicate the fate of the characters later on in the movie, which I thought was pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

Flowers/Flowercrowns/Floage- Flower crowns are all over this movie, they are worn by villagers, and Dani is giving on after she grows closer to the villagers. there are also points in the movie where parts of Dani's body is covered in grass, usually after she takes the mushsrooms/Mushmsroom tea. I think the grass/flowercrown symbolizes letting go/ being in harmony with other another/ emotions. I only guessing this because at the end of the movie Dani is shown basically covered in flowers, and by then all the villager pretty much accept her as one of them, and she feel to let out all her emotions that she was trying to keep in for the whole movie. I think the flowercrownes may symbolize youth and fertility since most of the younger female villagers are seen wearing them. 

 

 

(if you look closely you can see the flowers, leaves and other natural objects ''breathing)

 

 

I think the themes in this movies are Connection, Community, Emotions, Understanding and Letting go.  The villagers have strong connection with each other, their feelings, and nature, the movie also focuses on the lack of connection through Chris and Dani's relationship, the villagers also obliviously have strong sense of community since they are really proud of their culture and are willing to share it with the outside world. Emotions are also a thing because Dani spends most of the time trying to sort out and hide her emotions until the very end, while the village share in each other joy, pain, and misery. Understanding because all of the characters who couldn't understand why the villager did what they did and lived in the way they lived where killed off and punished. Dani was able to understand the villagers and the accepted her into their community, and because Dani was able to learn how to let go it help her understand the villagers even more.

 

Before the conclusion, I just wanted to talk about some of my favorite scenes from this movie

The Maypole Dance

 

 

One of my favorite scenes is the maypole dance, I like the way the camera spins, I like the energy the scene gives off, and its one of the only scenes where Dani looks happy and looks like she's having a good time. I also like how none the girls who couldn't dance as long enough as Dani weren't bitter about it and all of the villagers where happy for Dani when she won. I also thought it was neat when she spoke Swedish with the other dancers, showing that she was really start to connect with the people in the village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emotional Release 

Another scene I like is the scene after Dani sees Chris cheating on her with Pelle's sister, and Dani starts to have another emotional break down, but instead of hiding her feelings she's able to  share her sadness and anger with the other female villagers, and they don't belittle or mock her feelings, they actually help her embrace them

 

Blood Eagle 

My last favorite scene is the part where Chris comes across Simon's body, I think its neat how the beauty of the flower contrast between the goriness of the way Simon's body is display. I think the movie in general does a great job at putting pretty/beautiful things right next to gorey/horrific stuff. I like how the movie manages to be both beautiful and horrifying because I think those are two artistic elements that are similar in some ways, but is extremely  hard to pull off both at the same time if you don't know what you're doing.

 

 

Overall, I think Midsommar is a pretty good movie, it has a really nice aesthetic that really unique when it comes to horror movies, and it never try to sacrifice the aesthetic for the genre (no pun indeed). The story is really interesting and it keeps character and viewers on their toes, not knowing what's going to happen next, the character are rememberable , believable , and relateable for the most part, and its overall just a good watch. I think you should watch this movie if you like spooky yet beautiful imagery, flower-crown, people sharing their feels, and summertime. You probably should skip this movie if you don't like gorey stuff or any of the stuff I mentioned before for reasons to watch.

 

I give this movie a 8.5/10

(I couldn't use my usual stars because I'm typing this on my laptop, so I made this real quick in Photopea)

 

Overall Opinion: