Spoilers ahead! He holds an MA in History from Rutgers University-Newark and is ABD in his PhD program in History at Lehigh University. Midsommar is disturbing to the extreme. There are no jump-scare cheap thrills in this film. I realise this might come across as a negative review, but it is quite a good film. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. I understand that we had to see the weirdness and sadistic nature of this cult, but ultimately some of it felt like it didn’t have to be there. "Midsommar" isn't just a great horror movie, or proof that director Ari Aster is a budding auteur who likely has a bright future ahead of him. Spoiler alert! There is a moment in these early scenes that sets the thematic tone of the movie that follows. ", criticized as ableist and even eugenicist. In Midsommar, we experience the horror of nature in a peaceful, Scandinavian countryside. The big ones all apply: writing, acting, directing, cinematography, musical score, costumes, editing. The Wrap Reviews: Midsommar (No Spoilers) From Ari Aster, director of Hereditary, comes a disturbing and gruesome new horror/thriller. Instead she wails, over and over again, to Christian's exasperated consternation. I was too traumatized to be smug. (I saw HOST on Shudder.). The following contains major details about the ending of the horror film "Midsommar." It's that they have a choice to extend empathy to someone who needs it, but decide that because she isn't easy to be with she isn't worth the time. All rights reserved. Image via A24. Without giving away any spoilers, it’s definitely one of the most twisted break-up films ever made. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! An ancient festival in Sweden, now, that would be different. Aside from being selfish and cruel, it's also ironic, considering that few people are actually as stable as they'd like to depict themselves as being. If you’re looking for a review of the film, with a few basic plot details but no major spoilers, then read this instead. One needs to be somehow mentally prepared to see it. A horror movie. It’s an excellent film. The happening is more horrific than the thing, itself. Elsewhere in the horror genre, we might experience the horror of, say, a haunted house. I felt exactly the same way. That’s what this film was marketed as, and that’s what the film seemed to be for the first hour. Copyright © 2019 Salon.com, LLC. You would’ve thought I was in Costco, not Whole Foods! Desk in distress. The cashier handing me the receipt. I saw runes everywhere, in everything. The following year, "The Predator" made the odd choice to include an autistic character whose condition made him a prized commodity among the titular alien species. Midsommar robbed me of some pedantic horror-movie joys: a few things happened that I guessed would happen, but I couldn’t take satisfaction in guessing correctly, because the events played out in ways more twisted than I could have imagined. ), Monster Mash. I still do. When we stopped at the store after the movie, I made my way through the aisles feeling disoriented and panicky. This is how the audience will look watching this. But after a while, it felt like more of a sadistic slasher in which the disturbing gore was only there for shock value rather than necessity to the story. He’s from Sweden, and he’s spoken of a special summer festival held in his small community back home. This isn't mere subtext; it is front and center throughout the entire plot. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. While he is objectified and, by Aster's own admission, treated "more as a symbol, as an idea, than he is even as a character," he isn't depicted as a monster or a freak. He is simply one more victim of the cult, a plot point which, if anything, illustrates how the cult is able to weaponize the concept of empathy in order to create an insular community of evil. The scene could have been employed as a dark joke — Christian and his friends had just discussed how it seemed like one crisis after another with Dani, and here we go again — but it actually foreshadows the payoff of the movie's premise. Spoilers ahead! The first half of the film was near perfect, the slowly built tension and rising metaphor I really appreciated, and reminded me of Hereditary. Dani may seem to have "won" at the end — she has been anointed May Queen, is the lone survivor from her group and has a satisfied smile on her face — but in the grand scheme of things she hasn't really triumphed. Martial Arts/Combat Sports/Body Combat/Fitness posts, Mental illness and mental well-being and mental health, Mind as muscle. I was jumpy and irritable. The idea was intended to be flattering — autism as the next stage in human evolution, that sort of thing — but turning autistic people into MacGuffins was at best a lazy gimmick and at worst the definition of objectification. On Sunday, we went to the movies anticipating a good scare, because we thought we were about to see a normal horror flick. I am still interested in the films Ari Aster has to make, because they will undoubtedly be beautifully made and controversial. Then you dare think, maybe it does. Change ). It’s so difficult to talk about Midsommar without giving away any spoilers, and perhaps the great thing about it is that it’s thought-provoking. Dani may have technically survived, but only at a grave cost. There’s horror, and then there’s Midsommar. Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer for Salon. Everything freaked me out: interactions with people in the store. It isn't unreasonable for someone to think that a romantic relationship isn't working if it demands more energy from them than they have to give, and the point here should not be that people who are trapped in one-sided relationships should stay in them against their will.
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