Ari Aster made one of the most dread-inducing horror flicks I’ve ever seen in Hereditary. That movie can be a very dark, and very uncomfortable watch. How nice that he followed that up with a movie about a midsummer celebration in Sweden. No darkness at all. Bright. Sunny. Hopeful. Yeah, sure.
One of the toughest things about Hereditary was its depiction of grief. It permeated the film, and that’s also how things begin in Midsommar. Dani (Florence Pugh) goes through a terrible personal trauma. Her sister kills her parents and then herself. Welcome to the movie. If this is going to be anything like Hereditary, one is in for a tough time. But, a despairing exploration of grief is not in the cards for this flick, thank goodness.
Dani has been in a rocky relationship with Christian (Jack Reynor). He was working up the guts to break up with Dani when tragedy hit. He feels that he can’t leave her now, so the relationship limps along, neither happy in it. Christian is invited, along with his friends Josh and Mark (William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter) to a midsummer festival in Sweden by Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). Relationship guilt forces Christian to invite Dani, against everyone’s wishes, and it’s off to Sweden.
The festival is at an isolated rural commune in Hälsingland. Aster built an idyllic setting. The grass is green and it’s all surrounded by rolling hills. The commune looks fancy free, but there is a regimented life. Everything that happens during the 9-day festival has a purpose. Everything is ritual, from the white linen outfits to the flower laurels to 
the rune-inscribed dwellings to the liberal use of hallucinogens. The setting almost feels like the set for a stage play. It lives in the uncanny valley, as an imitation of a place where people live and work. Viewers only ever see one building where people actually sleep, and many of the buildings feel like facades. I think this was more a function of the budget than anything else, but it becomes a crucial part of the atmosphere.
For quite a bit of running time after arrival at the commune, everything seems okay, if a little bit weird. Characters pass this off as culture shock, and it is only us, on the other side of the screen, that know there will be bad things happening. When it does start, normal folk would cut and run, but then a movie couldn’t happen.
Midsommar is a movie that rewards ignorance, so I won’t spoil what occurs when the horrific stuff begins. Just know that these characters are a long way from home, a long way from help, and surrounded by people who do not wish them well. The situation continues to deteriorate, while the locals are all smiles and innocence. Mystery deepens, the festival hits a crescendo, and thereafter a denouement that is satisfying, disturbing, and perplexing all at once. I won’t get into any more detail than that. Just know that there is blood and gore in this movie. It’s not pervasive or overused, but it is there.
There is one elephant in the room that must be addressed, and it is this movie’s running time. It’s about 141 minutes, not including the end credits. This, combined with a slow pace, is the greatest point of contention amongst the horror moviegoing base. If it feels excessive, that’s because it is. According to the internet, so it must be true, the cut Aster initially delivered to A24 was 171 minutes long, and they forced him to trim that down. I don’t think he went far enough. No filmmaker wants to compromise their vision, I understand that. Sometimes, though, people need to be protected from their own decisions. This film being as long as it is makes it a trial to sit through, and it did not have to be. There is ample room to take down running time while also picking up the pace.
Of all aspects of the film, positive and negative, it is the excessive length and slow pace that stand out the most. This is a film that is put together gorgeously. The production is impeccable and the cinematography, by Pawel Pogorzelski, is beautiful. Pugh was the standout, giving an excellent performance as a devastated and vulnerable young woman, while Reynor, Harper, and Poulter were the right amount of despicable. The Swedish cast are a collective enigma, upon which viewers can place suspicions and paranoia as the scene requires. Midsommar is a very well-made film with a good story and a solid cast. As good as this film is, it is not as good as it should be.