As you can see from previous posts, 9 times out of 10, I use a quote from the movie to name the post and I've done the same this time but unlike any other occasion, this time I had an internal battle with myself between the one I have used above and ".....If you ask him it was not worth the pleasant picnic in the park. He's fucked" or (even though this is clearly from a completely different movie) "Moms making a pubey salad and she wants some Seth's own dressing" and that really sums up what I feel about this movie. I don't know my arse from my elbow quite frankly. I will however try and make some sense, even if it does end up being just a bunch of random thoughts thrown together.
Midsommar is a 2019 folk horror film written and directed by Ari Astor and starring Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor. It follows a group of friends who travel to Sweden for the summer to take part in a remote village festival that only happens once every 90 years but it all turns out to be a little bit more Waco-ish than they expected. (Did anyone else laugh out loud at that little reference in the cinema? Just me then :-|)
If I really dig into my Essex roots the bluntness in me will say this - Midsommar is The Wicker Man on crack. And LSD. And PCP. And possibly Ketamine. Nothing is that simple though is it? Especially when it comes Lars von Trier wannabes. Yes, I said that.
I'm not going to get into the actual story too much as I don't do out and out spoilers but I will share my thoughts as much as possible.
I will start off by saying I didn't hate this movie. I didn't think it was a total pile of shit but I still have no idea what I actually do think of it. All I do know is when I walked out I felt irritated. It annoyed me and I'm not really sure why.
The first act is much more grounded than the the other 2, in fact they could be completely separate films. The first being the solid beginnings of a run of the mill teen horror movie and the 2nd and 3rd being a psychological headache.
The start of the second act kicks off with these wonderful (or not) tumbling and inverted camera shots that immediately made me think of a movie called Irreversible, which was shortly followed by a feeling of relief that, unlike when I watched Irreversible, I wouldn't be subjected to an 11 minute long rape scene or anyone's face being caved in. I was wrong :-| On one of those counts anyway.
The whole thing is a beautifully woozy, delirious daydream/nightmare that if arty farty cinema including numerous, actually quite impressive, cutlery driven Mexican waves is your thing then you will absolutely revel in it. For me though, it was too much of a paper mache blob of The Wicker Man, badly emulated Lars von Trier movies, with a bit of Gaspar Noe, held together by the slightest hint of Tom Sixx but (I defo said this before about something) at least Tom Sixx admits he's a sick bastard. Also in the same vein Lars von Sick Fuck doesn't try and make his movies fit into a certain mould he's just a wrong'un simply for being a wrong'uns sake. This is where Ari Astor failed in my opinion - be one thing or the other. Stay in your lane. Even if that lane is full of fucking car crashes. (That's probably not fair but I'm sticking by it until I've seen Hereditary)
Actually that 'held together' comment was not fair either, there was nothing 'held together' about this movie its seamless. It's technically flawless and considering the subject matter it has a very sunny, joyful and dare I say luscious aesthetic a large amount of the time. Except when people are dying horrible or being flayed alive in a chicken coop, of course.
This is definitely a case of a misleading trailer leading to a movie being grossly misunderstood and attracting unnecessary hate. Using Oscar nominated actors as bait is shady and whats even worse is when you give said Oscar nominated actors the shittiest source material to work with. He was basically the village idiot that did nothing but mess with the tone of the movie.
I can't even comment on the acting because I simply wasn't paying attention to it (Probably means it was at least passable because no one made me cringe) - I was more concerned about the new frown lines I most definitely sprouted during its colossal 147 minute run. TOO. LONG.
I've already had shit from internet movie snobs (Christ I thought I was bad) about this but my opinion is my opinion and in summary it started off promising, oh so promising but all went a bit too 'Tusk' in the end for my liking.
If you want to see something for artistic merit alone then absolutely go and see this but take your big girl pants and a stomach of steel. If you are looking for just another horror movie, this is not for you.
Midsommar is a 2019 folk horror film written and directed by Ari Astor and starring Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor. It follows a group of friends who travel to Sweden for the summer to take part in a remote village festival that only happens once every 90 years but it all turns out to be a little bit more Waco-ish than they expected. (Did anyone else laugh out loud at that little reference in the cinema? Just me then :-|)
If I really dig into my Essex roots the bluntness in me will say this - Midsommar is The Wicker Man on crack. And LSD. And PCP. And possibly Ketamine. Nothing is that simple though is it? Especially when it comes Lars von Trier wannabes. Yes, I said that.
I'm not going to get into the actual story too much as I don't do out and out spoilers but I will share my thoughts as much as possible.
I will start off by saying I didn't hate this movie. I didn't think it was a total pile of shit but I still have no idea what I actually do think of it. All I do know is when I walked out I felt irritated. It annoyed me and I'm not really sure why.
The first act is much more grounded than the the other 2, in fact they could be completely separate films. The first being the solid beginnings of a run of the mill teen horror movie and the 2nd and 3rd being a psychological headache.
The start of the second act kicks off with these wonderful (or not) tumbling and inverted camera shots that immediately made me think of a movie called Irreversible, which was shortly followed by a feeling of relief that, unlike when I watched Irreversible, I wouldn't be subjected to an 11 minute long rape scene or anyone's face being caved in. I was wrong :-| On one of those counts anyway.
The whole thing is a beautifully woozy, delirious daydream/nightmare that if arty farty cinema including numerous, actually quite impressive, cutlery driven Mexican waves is your thing then you will absolutely revel in it. For me though, it was too much of a paper mache blob of The Wicker Man, badly emulated Lars von Trier movies, with a bit of Gaspar Noe, held together by the slightest hint of Tom Sixx but (I defo said this before about something) at least Tom Sixx admits he's a sick bastard. Also in the same vein Lars von Sick Fuck doesn't try and make his movies fit into a certain mould he's just a wrong'un simply for being a wrong'uns sake. This is where Ari Astor failed in my opinion - be one thing or the other. Stay in your lane. Even if that lane is full of fucking car crashes. (That's probably not fair but I'm sticking by it until I've seen Hereditary)
Actually that 'held together' comment was not fair either, there was nothing 'held together' about this movie its seamless. It's technically flawless and considering the subject matter it has a very sunny, joyful and dare I say luscious aesthetic a large amount of the time. Except when people are dying horrible or being flayed alive in a chicken coop, of course.
This is definitely a case of a misleading trailer leading to a movie being grossly misunderstood and attracting unnecessary hate. Using Oscar nominated actors as bait is shady and whats even worse is when you give said Oscar nominated actors the shittiest source material to work with. He was basically the village idiot that did nothing but mess with the tone of the movie.
I can't even comment on the acting because I simply wasn't paying attention to it (Probably means it was at least passable because no one made me cringe) - I was more concerned about the new frown lines I most definitely sprouted during its colossal 147 minute run. TOO. LONG.
I've already had shit from internet movie snobs (Christ I thought I was bad) about this but my opinion is my opinion and in summary it started off promising, oh so promising but all went a bit too 'Tusk' in the end for my liking.
If you want to see something for artistic merit alone then absolutely go and see this but take your big girl pants and a stomach of steel. If you are looking for just another horror movie, this is not for you.