kev.’s review published on Letterboxd:
“Well, that was cold blooded” said the older woman sitting in front of me at the theater as the credits started to roll on the screen, and I agree, it was definitely cold blooded, but also disturbing, traumatic, scarring but so, so incredibly good.
Holy shit. Walking into it, I was a bit afraid I might find that it was being overhyped, but luckily it is not. It is absolutely everything you’ve heard and then more. I am fascinated by how terrifying the story was while not being necessarily scary. There’s no jumpscares or anything you’d expect from a “traditional” horror film, instead, there’s light and bright colors.
Towards the beginning there’s a couple of beautiful shots in which the camera takes a 180° turn and the image turns upside down, and that’s also exactly what the story does, it takes a 180° and becomes something far more obscure than expected. Suddenly all that light and colors aren’t so happy anymore, and instead create a very unsettling atmosphere.
I was mesmerized by how the sound plays a big part in making this film what it is, perhaps even more so than the gory visuals. Something as simple as switching from an extremely loud environment to complete silence in a split second made a huge difference, and were some of the best parts. Truly an incredible film.
The bits of comedy, especially the one-liners by Will Poulter’s character were funny at first, but then it felt like they were trying to push it too much to make the film a little lighter which I thought was dull, but once the comedy stopped... oh how I wanted it to come back.
Overall, Midsommar was a fantastic, well made film with amazing everything: story, cinematography, score (!), and performances by the whole cast. (Florence Pugh was incredible as expected.)
I’ve said this many times but I’ll say it again: Ari Aster has a unique mind, and I can’t wait to see what he throws at us next.
“Can anyone just join in?”
”Well you’re an American, jam yourself in”
**My local theater is 20+ years old and at some point as I was watching this, I could hear the Lion King’s music playing in the auditorium next door... truly a unique experience, 10/10 would recommend.**
