Fresh from earning huge praise for “Hereditary,” Ari Lester worked on his next film, “Midsommar.” Inspired by a personal break-up and Swedish midsummer folklore, the film follows a couple and their pals travel to Sweden. At first, they enjoy a nice cozy vacation. Suddenly, the people who invited the tourists are part of a religious sinister cult performing human sacrifices. Released in 2019, (same year It: Chapter Two came out) it received praise from critics and a box office hit. Now that it’s officially Halloween Month, I got a few horror films to watch and review. By the way, Florence Pugh will reprise her role as Yelena Belova in “Avengers Doomsday” coming in December 18, 2026.
Today’s review contains SPOILERS. If you’re somewhat interested in seeing Midsommar, read at your own risk.
Beautiful & Ugly Qualities
Beautiful: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper & Will Poulter all did a good job for their respective performances.
Bobby Krelic (The Alienist: Season 2, Returnal, Beau Is Afraid) orchestrated the soundtrack.
Practical Effects were heavily involved staging brutal moments not for the faint of heart.
Cinematography’s shot in stable condition.
Costume Designs and Set Pieces were manually crafted by decorators.
A horror flick set almost primarily on bright day felt unique. A breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, there are problems listed below.
Ari Aster has a voiceover cameo as a radio host when one of the tourists is listening to during a cliff scene.
Ugly: Ari himself didn’t do a good job as writer and director. He failed to pinpoint plot elements the audience can comprehend.
I can barely seen Opening Credits. Snow covers most of it. What if somebody near-sighted can’t tell what the heck’s going on? When I rewatch the hard to see Opening Credits, I fully realized movie goers wasted all their spare time and hard earned cash. I pity them hard workers.
Scare Factor lacked bone chilling moments. Not single terrifying moment never gave me the heebie jeebies similar to Erectile Dysfunction not giving me this exciting feeling. The horror equivalent is Scaretile Dysfunction or SD for short.
The characters are completely forgettable. Couldn’t remember one name. Heck, not a single member of the cult is memorable.
Chemistry between the main leads felt underwhelming. That’s a huge drawback.
Pacing’s a slow burn. Nothing sinister happens until it reaches an hour and two minutes. I was miserably bored. I expected a cohesive narrative not a snoozefest. In other words, get to the point.
A trailer for the film promised me this was gonna be like the original Wicker Man. What did I get? A crappy one like Nicolas Cage’s remake. Ari & A24 tricked me. EGADS! This is “Snow Dogs” & “Kangaroo Jack” all over again! Both family movies lied to movie goers this is gonna feature a talking animal. Midsommar however, was all a lie or as Deadpool calls it, “An educated wish.” Gonna have to Triple Down this con. Ari & A24 swindled me. Ugh! I’d rather watch all episodes of “Courage the Cowardly Dog!” A kids show a billion times legitimately scary, funny and memorable in one package!
Director’s Cut adds unnecessary relationship drama and subplots like anthropology. I don’t give a crud about studying for a collage thesis. I want better characters, a cohesive narrative, good villains and better pacing. Skip the Director’s Cut. Not a huge improvement.
Although the film ended abruptly, Florence’s character may or may not be brainwashed. Again, she’s not interesting as the other characters.
The Final Verdict: F, FOR FAKER!
I can’t believe I’m saying this, Midsommar isn’t as good as many critics claim it’s one of the best modern horror films. It pales in comparison to Hereditary. I haven’t watched a boring horror flick since Guillermo Del Toro’s “Frankenstein.” I’m sorry folks, I didn’t like Mr. Del Toro’s interpretation. It was boring as heck. I wanted to like Midsommar. It has problems. Skip this snoozefest in favor of the “Terrifier” series. They’re ten times scarier and brutal. Don’t forget to check out the anthology film, “All Hallow’s Eve.” Three stories interconnected to Art the Clown. Which horror film should I watch and review next? Please leave a comment. Don’t forget to subscribe for more reviews.
