Close Menu
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Get Your Comic On
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Hot Topics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse
      • DC Comics
      • Fantastic Four (2025)
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Marvel
      • Power Rangers
      • Star Trek Universe
      • Superman (2025)
      • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
      • Titan Comics
      • Transformers
      • Universal Pictures
    • Features

      Are the FINAL DESTINATION Films All Linked to the Events of 1968?

      May 17, 2025

      The 10 Most Memorable Deaths In The FINAL DESTINATION Series, Ranked

      May 7, 2025

      Spotting the ALIEN Franchise References in the PREDATOR: BADLANDS Trailer

      April 24, 2025

      ANDOR Season One Recap: All the Details You Need Ahead of Season Two

      April 16, 2025

      You Don’t Need to Know My Hero Academia to Enjoy Vigilantes, But It Helps!

      April 10, 2025
    • Comics

      Out of Gotham. Not Out of Bullets. DC Announces New Ongoing RED HOOD Series

      June 17, 2025

      Dark Horse Books Presents Mark Millar’s PRODIGY LIBRARY EDITION For January 2026 Release

      June 17, 2025

      Dark Horse Reveals Cover Art & Preview for MINOR THREATS LIBRARY EDITION Vol, 1

      June 16, 2025

      Mysterious Threats in First Look at MINOR ARCANA #9 From BOOM! Studios

      June 16, 2025

      Dark Horse Reveals Tony Fleecs STAR WARS: HYPERSPACE STORIES – TIDES OF TERROR Knowhere Games Exclusive Variant Cover

      June 16, 2025
    • Film

      Paramount Pictures Confirms Plans for UK Re-Release of CLUELESS

      June 17, 2025

      Doctor Who Guest Star Tom Rhys Harries Lands Starring Role in DC’s CLAYFACE

      June 17, 2025

      You Can’t Run, Or Hide, From Bloody New I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER Trailer

      June 17, 2025

      James Gunn Talks Challenges of Adding BATMAN and WONDER WOMAN to DCU

      June 17, 2025

      The Clock is Ticking in Official Trailer for Thriller ZERO From Jean Luc Herbulot

      June 17, 2025
    • TV

      Dream is on the Path to Hell in New Trailer For Netflix’s THE SANDMAN Season 2

      June 17, 2025

      Eric Bana Stars in Tense Teaser Trailer for Upcoming Netflix Thriller UNTAMED

      June 17, 2025

      First Impressions With STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season 3

      June 15, 2025

      Apple TV+ Debuts Official Trailer for FOUNDATION Season 3

      June 13, 2025

      Prime Video Adds New Cast Members for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER Season 3

      June 12, 2025
    • Gaming

      Koei Tecmo Introduces the New and Familiar Characters of ATELIER RESLERIANA: THE RED ALCHEMIST & THE WHITE GUARDIAN

      June 13, 2025

      Squanch Games Shares First Look at HIGH ON LIFE 2 With Official Trailer

      June 13, 2025

      Crunchyroll Game Vault Adds Survival Horror WHITE DAY

      June 12, 2025

      David Corenswet’s SUPERMAN Set to Join FORTNITE Alongside Robin

      June 8, 2025

      The Fate of Battle Royale Island Hangs in the Balance as Fortnite’s STAR WARS: GALACTIC BATTLE Comes to an End

      June 6, 2025
    • Anime

      Crunchyroll To Release JUJUTSU KAISEN: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death – The Movie This Summer

      June 12, 2025

      Crunchyroll Game Vault Adds Survival Horror WHITE DAY

      June 12, 2025

      Crunchyroll to Celebrate Anime’s Global Growth at Annecy International Animation Film Festival

      June 6, 2025

      Crunchyroll Kicks off GACHIAKUTA World Takeover With New Trailer

      June 6, 2025

      CRUNCHYROLL Updates UK Home Entertainment Release Schedule for June through August 2025

      June 3, 2025
    • Podcast
    • Interviews

      Director Dean DeBlois Talks Bringing the Isle of Berk in to Live-Action With HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

      June 10, 2025

      Exploring DOWNLANDS With Writer and Artist Norm Konyu (Exclusive)

      May 13, 2025

      DC’s SUMMER OF SUPERMAN SPECIAL Writers Talk Caretaking the Man of Steel’s Story (Exclusive)

      April 15, 2025

      Diving in to a Brand New AQUAMAN #1 with Writer Jeremy Adams (EXCLUSIVE)

      December 25, 2024

      The Architects of DC’s THE NEW GODS Discuss Bringing the Fourth World to New Audiences (EXCLUSIVE)

      December 18, 2024
    • Directory
    Get Your Comic On
    Home»Film»Film Review»MIDSOMMAR (2019) review
    Film Review

    MIDSOMMAR (2019) review

    Lukas AnthonyBy Lukas AnthonyJuly 8, 2019Updated:June 6, 2020No Comments5 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

    SYNOPSIS

    A young couple travels to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown and attend its mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly descends into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

    REVIEW

    Well, that might just be my weirdest cinema experience of 2019.

    I went into Midsommar feeling pretty sure I knew what I was getting. I’d seen Ari Aster’s previous film Hereditary (which I really enjoyed), and I’d also made a point to read some interviews with Aster beforehand, where he described his intentions for the movie.

    In these interviews, Aster described himself as wanting to play with the themes of loss, loneliness, grief, and toxic relationships. All of which are featured in the movie. The thing is though, I feel that they might just play a much smaller role than we were led to believe.

    Now that’s not to say that Aster has nothing to say on these topics. The movie starts with our main character, Dani (Florence Pugh), receiving a devastating family loss that affects her journey over the entire movie. She feels alone in her grief, her unsupporting boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) is little help, and like Toni Collette’s character in his previous movie, she just doesn’t understand what she’s supposed to do. These ARE the movie’s themes, but does Aster truly explore them? I’m not so sure.

    This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy Midsommar. I actually quite loved it, (possibly even more so than Hereditary), but Midsommar is its own beast, doing its own thing, in a way that Hereditary couldn’t get away with.

    It mostly comes down to characters. For all of Aster’s talk of his intentions with this movie, it’s nowhere near as engaging character-wise, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Midsommar doesn’t feel like it’s trying to bring you into its story, it feels like something that is being rolled, intricately out before you, for you to witness. You’re just a fly on the cult walls, watching and savoring every delicious frame.

    If I was to try and explain the look of this movie, it’s probably best described as a horrifying, technicolor fairy-tale, and major props should be given to the set designers, cinematographers, and costume designers who made the hills of Sweden come alive (sometimes almost literally). Aster has already shown he is a talent behind the camera, but by filming exclusively in daylight, he’s really able to emphasize his framing and use of color, making some shots that you just want to continue to stare at long after they’re’ gone.

    There is a nice juxtaposition going on here between the directing and the script that feels intentional. The script itself is relatively simple and unpredictable, there are no twists to shock, or grand revelations. Each action has a reaction further on in the movie that feels realistic, and what makes these moments work, is how Aster draws them out.

    This is not a fast paced movie by any means, and I would be lying if I said you didn’t feel the movies two hour and twenty-minute running time once or twice. It does, however, allow the movie to create events. The alluded to scene in the trailer for instance, with the blood on the rune headstone, is meticulously crafted to the point where we feel we have been taken on the whole journey. We know what’s coming, but Aster takes so long getting there that we are unsure if there will ever be a reprieve.

    On the topic of reprieves, the one thing I wasn’t actually expecting with Midsommar is how damn funny it is. My cinema screen was full of nervous/awkward giggles for the majority of the movie, and the laughs always felt intentionally placed. The biggest laugh actually turns up in one of the movies overall more disturbing scenes and still doesn’t manage to break the tension that’s been created. Aster also enjoys playing with expectations, as never has the ‘nice guy’ boyfriend (Reynor) been more awful, and the ‘asshole type’ (Poulter) more relatable. Poulter especially puts in a good performance, with a trip on mushrooms at the festival’s start being a highlight.

    Many reviews have praised Florence Pugh, and while she certainly doesn’t have as much to work with as Toni Collette did, she can certainly react to anything and everything and sob like nobody’s business. Her complete mental breakdown towards the end of the movie shows that she can still make the role dramatic, even with all the craziness going on around her, and she centers the film effectively. Jack Reynor is also good as the ‘aloof’ boyfriend, and really embraces the role for all it’s worth with some fairly rare male nudity.

    The last thing I wanted to touch on briefly in this review was the gore factor. It wasn’t quite as strong as I was expecting in frequency, but boy, when it pops up, does it pop up! There’s a moment in this film that features some of the best practical effects used in horror from the last few years, and to have it shown in daylight, without the comfort of being able to hide in the shadows, shows you how confident a director Aster really is. If you have seen the movie, you likely know which scene I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, well, you will.

    OVERALL

    A horrific, technicolor fairy-tale, Midsommar is a movie that delivers full-on dread, terrific practical effects, and most surprisingly, laughs. Ari Aster is now two for two and has somehow managed to make a weirder movie than his first, that’s also somehow more accessible.

    9/10

    Midsommar was produced by A24 Films and stars Florence Pugh (Fighting with my Family), Jack Reynor (On the Basis of Sex), Will Poulter (The Maze Runner) and William Jackson Harper (The Good Place).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGq0qngNs4Y&list=PL22h2b5wZwUuSI-N01oazz-N1mCoNRGfN

    Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @GetYourComicOn, or on Instagram at GetYourComicOn. If you have a story suggestion email feedback@getyourcomicon.co.uk.

    A24 Ari Aster Horror Midsommar (2019 movie)
    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Lukas Anthony
    • Website
    • X (Twitter)
    • Instagram

    Lukas is the GYHO Editor. He has a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing which he is putting to use on the interweb, and is also a keen traveler, having spent many years living abroad. He is technically Welsh but after living in New Zealand for two years he considers himself an honorary Kiwi. He loves anything horror, but especially anything from the '80s, those were some fun times.

    Related Posts

    The 10 Most Memorable Deaths In The FINAL DESTINATION Series, Ranked

    May 7, 2025

    Juno Temple Returns to Apple TV for New Comedy Drama THE HUSBANDS

    April 5, 2025

    Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega Have a Magical Mystery on Their Hands in DEATH OF A UNICORN Trailer

    February 25, 2025

    Ayo Edebiri Stars in First Trailer for A24 & Warner Bros. OPUS

    February 7, 2025

    Apple TV+ Debuts Trailer for Upcoming Mystery Series SUNNY

    June 18, 2024

    Apple TV+ Sets July Premiere for New Mystery Thriller SUNNY Starring Rashida Jones

    April 21, 2024
    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

    Latest

    Out of Gotham. Not Out of Bullets. DC Announces New Ongoing RED HOOD Series

    June 17, 2025

    Hasbro Pulse Unveils New STAR WARS Action Figures for Summer 2025

    June 17, 2025

    Paramount Pictures Confirms Plans for UK Re-Release of CLUELESS

    June 17, 2025

    Doctor Who Guest Star Tom Rhys Harries Lands Starring Role in DC’s CLAYFACE

    June 17, 2025

    Dream is on the Path to Hell in New Trailer For Netflix’s THE SANDMAN Season 2

    June 17, 2025
    Latest Podcasts
    News

    Reviewing FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES and Apple TV+ Series MURDERBOT

    By Neil VaggMay 21, 2025
    News

    Captain America: Brave New World and News Roundup

    By Neil VaggFebruary 21, 2025
    News

    Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Plus Fantastic Four & Jurassic World

    By Neil VaggFebruary 6, 2025
    News

    Harley Quinn, Star Trek: Section 31 and Prime Target

    By Neil VaggJanuary 23, 2025
    News

    What We’re Looking Forward to in 2025

    By Neil VaggJanuary 8, 2025
    X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube TikTok Facebook LinkedIn
    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Community Guidelines
    • Directory
    • Pitch to Us
    GetYourComicOn.co.uk is a property of Get Your Comic On Ltd. © 2024 All Rights Reserved. Images used on this website are registered trademarks of their respective companies/owners.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.