Stanley Scorsese’s review published on Letterboxd:
Happy July 4th to everyone in America! Today is my first review since my last one on the original Child’s Play last weekend. So yesterday, I got to watch Midsommar. Before I went inside to watch it, I told myself, “Prepare to be scarred and have nightmares tonight.” After watching it, I was left speechless! Ari Aster, I don’t know what to say after seeing your film. But it has left me questioning of what I was left with, and what kind of shit I saw.
Midsommar is the highly anticipated film from writer-director Ari Aster. It follows Dani and Christian, a couple that are going through a tragedy and problems with their relationship, plan a trip to Sweden with their friends to see one of their friend’s home country festivities. It gets touching when they are welcomed, until they realize they are a bizarre and terrifying cult.
I remember going to see Hereditary for the first time in theaters, and I was left stunned, speechless, and was my favorite film from last year! And I was aching to see Aster’s next film and see what he was cooking up! Now that I got to see Midsommar, all I can say was, this was an acid trip that will definitely leave me into therapy. Like you feel this welcoming presence from the village people, but all the while something weird and sinister is going on. And when something horrible was happening I was in my head saying, “Fuck these people, fuck that shit, look at this disgusting shit! How can they call it a festival?!” There is a few scenes I will not forget in it, like the dancing competition, which I thought was hypnotic and well made. And the traumatizing ones, the old people jumping off a cliff, and the ritualistic sex scene. How can a film like this go from grim darkness to idyllic and horrific happiness? I really don’t know. But I do have a small problem with the film. It had no relatable characters except for one, it was kind of predictable, too slow paced, and I just didn’t like the ending. I was kinda waiting for something random to happen, like something out of the blue to have this entire cult be killed. Above all I believe what was wrong, it was still a decent film.
The acting from Florence Pugh was unsettling and phenomenal! Her getting into character and having panic attacks and mental breakdowns feels realistic and hard to watch! Also the acting from Reynor, Poulter, Harper were just ok, but the whole cult were sinisterly screwed up in the head, but also good! Aster is a messed up genius for making his own films, as much as I loved Hereditary, and how much I thought Midsommar was good, I want to see what else he’ll do next. Also the cinematography was great, the colors were so bright I couldn’t stop staring at the screen. It was like how long I was waiting for Jordan Peele’s Us and I thought it was a great film! But Midsommar, was not so great. But if any of you are interested in seeing this film, or if you’re a fan of Hereditary like I am, go see it. But enter in your own risk!
I’m giving Midsommar 3.5 stars!
