Libby Caldwell’s review published on Letterboxd:
A24 Watch/Rewatch Challenge - Ranked
200 Most Popular 2010s Releases (Unwatched) - Film 23/101
Going into Midsommar I had no idea what to expect. I’m still figuring out if horror is something I like to watch which is why unlike pretty much everyone on Letterboxd I’ve never seen Hereditary.
I loved it though. The set design was so cool, as was the attention to detail everywhere, it was funny and weird and definitely unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
Florence Pugh is easily one of the most versatile young actors working now, I don’t think you can get two movies as different as this and Fighting With My Family and she excels in both. With her upcoming roles in Black Widow and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, I’m sure she’s going to become one of my favourite actresses in no time.
The score was an aspect I really liked, the way it blended into the screams and other noises of the characters was so interesting to me.
I honestly didn’t feel the runtime at all, I don’t think I would’ve minded it being even slightly longer which is something I definitely don’t say often.
Florence Pugh aside, I’m not sure how I felt about the rest of the actors and the screenplay. Some people in my cinema were laughing at stuff that others weren’t but I don’t think that was necessarily because of it not being good but just the nature of the film. However I might feel differently on a rewatch.
I definitely appreciated how this movie develops thematically though, there were certain things I picked up on that really make it thought-provoking and I love how at its core Midsommar is about a woman trying to deal with trauma instead of all the crazy Swedish shit that could so easily take precedence.
I thought the character of Dani was really well-written and developed, and Christian but to a lesser extent. I loved the dynamic between the characters but upon reflection a lot of the supporting cast could’ve been slightly better developed but I’m really just nitpicking at this point.
On the whole I really enjoyed this and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t in my top 10 at the end of the year.
