Midsommar

        One of my favorite sights to see when visiting the theater is people sticking around after a movie has ended to talk about what they just saw amongst their friends. To me, that measures some level of success for a film. So, imagine my delight once the credits had concluded last night for Ari Aster's new film, Midsommar, to see that there were still people in the theater talking. I'm talking, like, half of the theater, you guys. I finally walked out of the theater and was even more happy to see tons more friend groups talking about the film. It might be a little depressing that I saw it by myself and had no one to talk to afterward, but we're not gonna dwell on that right now :) The post-film discussion is without a doubt deserved as Aster has delivered to us a movie that needs all of it.
        Dani and her BF, Christian, are on the brink of breaking up. One of Christian's friends invites him and some others to tag along with him to Sweden as his family celebrates Midsommar. After suffering severe grief, Dani is also invited to tag along. The group soon realizes upon arriving that it's going to be a weird nine days, but they have no idea how shocking the week is going to get.
        I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting for Aster's sophomore attempt. When entering the theater, I was hoping for the horror to parallel that of Hereditary, but within the first ten minutes, I realized that it wasn't going to be exactly like Aster's previous film. I realized this as soon as the first joke was cracked. It was very surprising to see just how funny the movie was which is a huge step away from the dark and brooding nature of Hereditary. Another thing that separates the two is the lighting. Hereditary was very dark most of the time, but Midsommar's setting makes almost the entire film bright and colorful. The color combined with the comedy makes the impact of the horror aspects more effective, in my opinion. Also, it is important to note that even though this film is labeled as horror, you won't find any jumpscares here. Much like Hereditary, Aster refrains from the traditional conventions of horror and doesn't put a single jumpscare in the film. Most of what happens on screen is going to unnerve you and almost make you want to run to the nearest trash can. It crawled under my skin, but in a good way. In short, if you're expecting a one for one follow-up to Hereditary you might be disappointed. Like I said before: as blind as possible.
        There are only a few issues I had with the film one of them revolving around the character who carries the majority of the comedy. The character is Mark and he is depicted as a very horny, sexually driven dude. One thing he comments on a lot is how "hot" the Swedish girls (or any girls) and how he just wants to have sex most of the time. Some of it is funny, but this character, for me, got very tiring and seemed a bit too stereotypically, sexually masculine. Another issue I had has to do with the character of Christian and his perception by the audience. I can't really say any more than that in fear that I will give away too much, but just know that I felt a little deceived and not in a good way. There are some more minute issues I had, but they have to do with the plot so I can't discuss them here.
        I apologize if any of this seems vague. I really don't want to spoil anything. Also, I haven't been keeping up with these reviews so I also apologize if the quality seems lacking.
        In conclusion, Midsommar is not what I was expecting, but in the end, it turned out to be what I wanted. I'm beginning to see a style for Aster. You may have heard something about the second half of the movie and how f***** up it gets, but I beg you to go into it blindly. You'll either love it or you'll be un-intrigued, but please seek this one out. If you were unimpressed with Hereditary or found it really hard to sit through then this film is going to be a lot harder to swallow and you may not enjoy it. It's definitely not for the faint of heart. 8.5/10