Dan’s review published on Letterboxd:
YouTube review - m.youtube.com/watch?v=dYDCiw23CUQ&t=2s
Filled to the brim with a gorgeous colour palette, imaginative camerawork and precise editing, Ari Aster’s new film is a feast for the eyes.
Like Hereditary this is a film with shocking imagery, a very strong lead performance and some of the most dread-inducing sound design I’ve heard all year.
Between Fighting With My Family and now Midsommar, Florence Pugh has had a really good year. There’s one particular scene in here where her face is doing one thing and her voice another, and it just shows what a handle she has on her craft.
I’d also just like to say for the record that Will Poulter is a far more versatile actor than people give him credit for. Comedic, serious, nerdy, dickish, he can do it all equally convincingly.
Midsommar does feel a tad overlong though and would perhaps benefit from being about 20 minutes shorter. There are also a few characters who are given very little - if any - characterisation.
In (mid)summary if you liked Hereditary you’ll dig this, and if you didn’t you probably won’t. It’s not as fast-paced or horrifying as the trailers would have you believe, but it’s expertly crafted, gorgeous to look at and has some things to say about stale relationships.
2019 is Florence Pugh's year.
8.5/10
