Midsommar | Film Review

Hey Guys x

This film has been talked about a lot since it first came out, but I never had a particularly strong desire to see it. All I'd heard about it was people saying it was either really great, really disturbing, or both. However, it is now on Amazon Prime, so I thought I'd give it a try to see if it was as good as so many people think it is.

Dani (Florence Pugh) and her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) travel with Christian's friends to Sweden for a Midsummer festival that takes place every 90 years. But when the group arrive, they discover the violent, horrifying truth behind the festival.

I'm in two minds about this film. On the one hand, the way it was spoken about led me to believe that it would be amazing, which it wasn't to me. But on the other hand, it definitely wasn't bad either.

The beginning of the film is completely separate from everything that happens after the group get to Sweden. For a long time at the beginning, you have no idea what's going on or what to make of the film, but it's interesting enough to keep you watching.

Something that struck me was the direct contrast between the darkness at the beginning of the film, versus the rest of the film taking place in persistent sunlight. I remember the beginning of the film was so dark that I actually had to close my curtains just so that I could actually see what was happening on the screen.
The fact that the rest of the film takes place in sunlight regardless of the time of day really added to the unsettling nature of it. You feel as uncomfortable as the characters do, particularly when you put yourself in their position. It's strange and extremely interesting how a world without darkness can be almost as scary as a world without light.

Even when the group are in Sweden, it takes a while for the story to go anywhere, but again, it doesn't lose your interest.
Having said that, the reputation that the film has means that you spend a lot of time waiting for these disturbing scenes to take place. For me, I actually got a bit bored of waiting for something disturbing to happen.

Speaking of the disturbing nature of the film, as a huge fan of gore, I thought the film got the level of gore completely right. It was shocking, but realistic and entertaining. It's understandable why some think it's disturbing, but I definitely wasn't disturbed by it.

It's the kind of film where, because it is so ambiguous, anything could happen. But you're still shocked when certain things happen. The film is written in such a way that even the things you could guess end up taking you by surprise. You're on edge for such a long time but you don't know why.

Something that kept jumping out at me is that there were a lot of unrealistic things happening in the film. For example, when people end up going missing, why is Dani (Pugh) the only one that notices or cares? Even when they acknowledge that something weird might be happening, the group are still accepting food and drink from these people, being alone with them, and feeling comfortable enough to not even try to leave. It didn't make any sense to me at all.

Speaking of these characters, Christian (Reynor) is the most annoying character in a film that includes characters that were there for the sole purpose of being annoying. His actions are extremely confusing and a lot of what he does doesn't actually make sense. He's not a character that you can really warm to, even though he doesn't actually explicitly do anything bad.

And then there's the ending. It might feel too ambiguous for some, but for me it completely made sense. A film like this didn't need to be tied up with a cute ribbon to signify its ending. The ambiguity completely worked.

The film has been described as 'more unsettling than frightening' and I think this is the best way to describe it. There are so many unknowns that you are on the edge of your seat, but you never have to watch through your fingers and your heart is never pounding.

In addition, the thing that disappointed me the most about the film was that it wasn't as weird or disturbing as people are saying it is.

Overall, the word that I used to describe the film was 'meh'. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either - however it definitely feels like the film was made to either be loved or hated.

6.5/10

Lou