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A young woman reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a summer trip where things quickly go awry. Review: Excellent Beautifully Executed Film - I enjoyed this film & recommend it. It was a unique & well done "horror film" without using the same old cliche horror-film-recipe over & over again. Honestly, I do not understand why everyone finds this film so "unsettling" and so "creepy." If people would just pick up a book & seek out knowledge once in awhile, you would see that this film was a good horror film with a nod to the Norse histories & legends. It was a fine portrayal of ancient culture & ritual lost to time (or so we so arrogantly think, stuck in our technological wasteland where humanity & analytical thinking is all but lost to the digital hive mentality) with a horror film twist. I thought the film was well put together & unfolded the plot gradually so as not to spoil what was to come. You could tell shortly after they arrive in the commune that things were not quite right, despite all of the smiles & beautiful welcoming faces. All throughout, Aster & Andersson did a wonderful job pitting the beauty & light of the site against the harsh & dark reality of what lies beneath. I thought Ari Aster did a brilliant job staging & slowing unfolding this dichotomy of the sunny & bright look of the Harga commune & people-the vision & overall look of the film-versus the dark undercurrent the secrets they held. It started almost immediately with the first ceremony - the Attestupa. I thought the visitors were extremely rude & uncouth in their overdone reactions to it. If people in that culture end their lives at a certain age, what is it to you? You would certainly expect a much more mature reaction from supposed anthropology students. Josh, to his credit, seemed to know right away what Pelle meant & was therefore very calm, albeit somewhat horrified to see it live & up close in his face. I appreciated his approach. Their community was fine with it & that was their way. Modern Westerners-especially here in America-have a huge arrogance & naivete that everywhere in the world will follow the American system of values, law, and thinking. Even in movies like "Hostel" you saw that same attitude from characters which, ultimately, gets them killed. Again, in "Midsommar," they held that attitude that anything not American or modern Western is bad/weird etc...and did not even try to acclimate to where they were staying. Would I throw myself off a cliff at 72 if I was otherwise healthy with good quality of life? No. But do I care if they choose to? No. Now if they came to America and started doing it then, sure, you can say something. After that event, the cast of characters branch off into their own reactions & experiences at Harga-Mark was just an uncouth bull in a china shop with no respect for anything outside his parochial American existence. Josh was well-read on the Norse/Harga traditions so he was more exploring fact vs. fiction for his paper. Dani was at first upset but then seemed almost numbed & even seemed to be comforted strangely. She took the experiences as they came. Christian did not seem to care at all-he gave her the usual patronizing "are you okay" type thing but even Dani was beginning to see him for what he was. As the film paces on, you see a secondary contrasting plot of how Christian continues to disgust Dani and build resentment/contempt in her as she realizes more & more that he is more patronizing & pity rather than love & affection...as Pelle asked her - "do you feel held by Christian?" - the answer was overwhemingly obviously NO. So, I liked how the film unravels its main plot of slowly having the cast & the viewer "discover" what Harga is all about, parallel to this plot of Dani "discovering" what Christian is all about...all while beginning to embrace the Harga community as a new adoptive family and moving away from her American counterparts. I won't spoil the ending of casts' diferent fates but I will say that I enjoyed the movie and that I recommended it to family & friends. It was a beautiful looking film-the way Aster & Andersson staged the different shots-even when something gruesome was occurring, you didn't know whether to look at the gore or enjoy the lovely scenery. The jewel case that this particular copy of DVD came in isn't bad or too cheap (thankfully it was not like the ones with a plastic X & empty space so you can just poke thru the paper into the disc) but I always swap it out for a better one that I bought myself. Plastic was a little weak for my liking. But it was well worth the price of $8.99. Review: Trippy, arty, creepy, usettling, surreal horror film not like anything I have seen before - Trippy, arty, creepy, surreal horror film not like anything I have seen before. It was unsettling in a way a more “typical” one set in a fog-shrouded town deep in the mountains or in haunted house during a thunderstorm, as those are areas where one expects to find unsettling, horrifying, or scary things. To me the film differed in that it was such a strange, new, alien environment for those caught up in it, that on the surface it seemed light and fun and sunny and idyllic but after a while the protagonists (or at least the viewer) realizes how alien the environment they are in is (despite initial appearances) and how isolated they are by distance, language, and basic viewpoints of the world. The film centers on Dani Ardor (played by Florence Pugh), her boyfriend Christian (played by Jack Reynor), and their group of friends (really Christian’s friends; they at best tolerate Dani). Dani we learn, already in a somewhat loveless, needy relationship with Christian (who feels Dani is a draining presence but is too nice and does care about her some so doesn’t dump her, despite the urging of Christian’s friends), hit rock bottom early on in the film when several members of her family are killed in a murder/suicide. Christian, a good man, doesn’t abandon her but clearly looks trapped, wanting to enjoy life though still wanting to make sure Dani is ok, really more or less doing the bare minimum (and forgetting things like her birthday). It is definitely a situation where Dani likes him more than Christian likes her (though I wonder if it is because Dani needs him, not necessarily loves him). Anyway, one of the group of friends, Pelle, from Sweden, invites Christian and their mutual friends to attend a Swedish folk festival that occurs once every 90 years, at Pelle’s commune, the Harga. The group, a mixture of college students (two of them at least cultural anthropology graduate students) leap at the chance. Christian invites Dani, thinking she will say no, but to Christian’s surprise and the group’s private disappointment, Dani agrees to go to Sweden. At that point all that is Normal and Makes Sense is gone, gone, gone. Starting with the strange camera angles of the group going by car I think the 4 hour drive to the commune after flying to Sweden and almost immediately upon arriving taking psychedelic mushrooms offered them, there is always a twin set of undercurrents; one, can we trust what we see, and two the rules the group knew from back in the United States are gone, though it is a long while before they figure this out. I also think their background as cultural anthropologists work against them, as they are used to observing other cultures and don’t realize yes, this is a strange group, but they are very much in this new reality with this culture they are studying and can very much be affected it, that they aren’t just observers. Maybe it is also a sense of American invulnerability or maybe they are naïve, always assuming basic rules they have internalized at home are going to be followed by a subculture that looks superficially understandable (all white and very Swedish looking, a fair number understand English, their friend Pelle understands the modern world and went to school with them, friendly, lots of attractive women, children playing, etc). As the group’s time with the Harga and the festival unfolds, they slowly (too slowly I think) start to figure out they are living in a Dangerous Cult Commune. Two try to leave (not original members of the group, but two people from London, friends of another man returning to his ancestral commune for the festival) early on and we think they did, kind of; they certainly don’t rejoin the group. The viewer probably thinks “oh no, they are dead, definitely dead,” but we don’t see anything to indicate they are killed, though the clues are there that these people can and absolutely would do such a thing (this is true for a while at least); the movie has a lot of foreshadowing and though an unsettling film I will probably never watch again, it would be interesting to view it again to pick out all the foreshadowing. Much of the film’s unsettling nature was for me to realize how strange and alien these people, the Harga, were, though a lot was waiting for the other shoe to drop, that once I realized Dani, Christian, and the others were in grave, mortal peril, what was going to happen next, though again and again Christian and the other friends seemed to have their weird, detached, clinical view of their surroundings, ignoring the great danger they were in (perhaps mirroring Christian’s emotionally distant relationship with Dani?). The last maybe quarter of the movie was horror absolutely. Not subtle, but well-done horror. I don’t want to say too much more other than the basic nature of Dani’s needful, support craving personality and Christian’s emotionally detached, clinical cultural anthropologist personality had a big impact on the fate of the two characters and the final act of the film. I never thought the pacing dragged at all, which is strange as on the surface of it there isn’t a lot of action until the very end and even then it is mostly running. Significant parts of the film are in Swedish, sometimes with subtitles, sometimes not, but this was never a problem and if anything heightened the isolation the American friends felt from the strange cult. The film did get gory at the end and also towards the end there is a good deal of nudity both male and female.

| Contributor | Archie Madekwe, Ari Aster, Ellora Torchia, Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Lars Knudsen, Patrik Andersson, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter, William Harper Contributor Archie Madekwe, Ari Aster, Ellora Torchia, Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Lars Knudsen, Patrik Andersson, Vilhelm Blomgren, Will Poulter, William Harper See more |
| Customer Reviews | 4.3 out of 5 stars 20,935 Reviews |
| Format | Blu-ray, NTSC, Subtitled |
| Genre | Horror |
| Initial release date | 2019-07-03 |
| Language | English |
C**R
Excellent Beautifully Executed Film
I enjoyed this film & recommend it. It was a unique & well done "horror film" without using the same old cliche horror-film-recipe over & over again. Honestly, I do not understand why everyone finds this film so "unsettling" and so "creepy." If people would just pick up a book & seek out knowledge once in awhile, you would see that this film was a good horror film with a nod to the Norse histories & legends. It was a fine portrayal of ancient culture & ritual lost to time (or so we so arrogantly think, stuck in our technological wasteland where humanity & analytical thinking is all but lost to the digital hive mentality) with a horror film twist. I thought the film was well put together & unfolded the plot gradually so as not to spoil what was to come. You could tell shortly after they arrive in the commune that things were not quite right, despite all of the smiles & beautiful welcoming faces. All throughout, Aster & Andersson did a wonderful job pitting the beauty & light of the site against the harsh & dark reality of what lies beneath. I thought Ari Aster did a brilliant job staging & slowing unfolding this dichotomy of the sunny & bright look of the Harga commune & people-the vision & overall look of the film-versus the dark undercurrent the secrets they held. It started almost immediately with the first ceremony - the Attestupa. I thought the visitors were extremely rude & uncouth in their overdone reactions to it. If people in that culture end their lives at a certain age, what is it to you? You would certainly expect a much more mature reaction from supposed anthropology students. Josh, to his credit, seemed to know right away what Pelle meant & was therefore very calm, albeit somewhat horrified to see it live & up close in his face. I appreciated his approach. Their community was fine with it & that was their way. Modern Westerners-especially here in America-have a huge arrogance & naivete that everywhere in the world will follow the American system of values, law, and thinking. Even in movies like "Hostel" you saw that same attitude from characters which, ultimately, gets them killed. Again, in "Midsommar," they held that attitude that anything not American or modern Western is bad/weird etc...and did not even try to acclimate to where they were staying. Would I throw myself off a cliff at 72 if I was otherwise healthy with good quality of life? No. But do I care if they choose to? No. Now if they came to America and started doing it then, sure, you can say something. After that event, the cast of characters branch off into their own reactions & experiences at Harga-Mark was just an uncouth bull in a china shop with no respect for anything outside his parochial American existence. Josh was well-read on the Norse/Harga traditions so he was more exploring fact vs. fiction for his paper. Dani was at first upset but then seemed almost numbed & even seemed to be comforted strangely. She took the experiences as they came. Christian did not seem to care at all-he gave her the usual patronizing "are you okay" type thing but even Dani was beginning to see him for what he was. As the film paces on, you see a secondary contrasting plot of how Christian continues to disgust Dani and build resentment/contempt in her as she realizes more & more that he is more patronizing & pity rather than love & affection...as Pelle asked her - "do you feel held by Christian?" - the answer was overwhemingly obviously NO. So, I liked how the film unravels its main plot of slowly having the cast & the viewer "discover" what Harga is all about, parallel to this plot of Dani "discovering" what Christian is all about...all while beginning to embrace the Harga community as a new adoptive family and moving away from her American counterparts. I won't spoil the ending of casts' diferent fates but I will say that I enjoyed the movie and that I recommended it to family & friends. It was a beautiful looking film-the way Aster & Andersson staged the different shots-even when something gruesome was occurring, you didn't know whether to look at the gore or enjoy the lovely scenery. The jewel case that this particular copy of DVD came in isn't bad or too cheap (thankfully it was not like the ones with a plastic X & empty space so you can just poke thru the paper into the disc) but I always swap it out for a better one that I bought myself. Plastic was a little weak for my liking. But it was well worth the price of $8.99.
T**N
Trippy, arty, creepy, usettling, surreal horror film not like anything I have seen before
Trippy, arty, creepy, surreal horror film not like anything I have seen before. It was unsettling in a way a more “typical” one set in a fog-shrouded town deep in the mountains or in haunted house during a thunderstorm, as those are areas where one expects to find unsettling, horrifying, or scary things. To me the film differed in that it was such a strange, new, alien environment for those caught up in it, that on the surface it seemed light and fun and sunny and idyllic but after a while the protagonists (or at least the viewer) realizes how alien the environment they are in is (despite initial appearances) and how isolated they are by distance, language, and basic viewpoints of the world. The film centers on Dani Ardor (played by Florence Pugh), her boyfriend Christian (played by Jack Reynor), and their group of friends (really Christian’s friends; they at best tolerate Dani). Dani we learn, already in a somewhat loveless, needy relationship with Christian (who feels Dani is a draining presence but is too nice and does care about her some so doesn’t dump her, despite the urging of Christian’s friends), hit rock bottom early on in the film when several members of her family are killed in a murder/suicide. Christian, a good man, doesn’t abandon her but clearly looks trapped, wanting to enjoy life though still wanting to make sure Dani is ok, really more or less doing the bare minimum (and forgetting things like her birthday). It is definitely a situation where Dani likes him more than Christian likes her (though I wonder if it is because Dani needs him, not necessarily loves him). Anyway, one of the group of friends, Pelle, from Sweden, invites Christian and their mutual friends to attend a Swedish folk festival that occurs once every 90 years, at Pelle’s commune, the Harga. The group, a mixture of college students (two of them at least cultural anthropology graduate students) leap at the chance. Christian invites Dani, thinking she will say no, but to Christian’s surprise and the group’s private disappointment, Dani agrees to go to Sweden. At that point all that is Normal and Makes Sense is gone, gone, gone. Starting with the strange camera angles of the group going by car I think the 4 hour drive to the commune after flying to Sweden and almost immediately upon arriving taking psychedelic mushrooms offered them, there is always a twin set of undercurrents; one, can we trust what we see, and two the rules the group knew from back in the United States are gone, though it is a long while before they figure this out. I also think their background as cultural anthropologists work against them, as they are used to observing other cultures and don’t realize yes, this is a strange group, but they are very much in this new reality with this culture they are studying and can very much be affected it, that they aren’t just observers. Maybe it is also a sense of American invulnerability or maybe they are naïve, always assuming basic rules they have internalized at home are going to be followed by a subculture that looks superficially understandable (all white and very Swedish looking, a fair number understand English, their friend Pelle understands the modern world and went to school with them, friendly, lots of attractive women, children playing, etc). As the group’s time with the Harga and the festival unfolds, they slowly (too slowly I think) start to figure out they are living in a Dangerous Cult Commune. Two try to leave (not original members of the group, but two people from London, friends of another man returning to his ancestral commune for the festival) early on and we think they did, kind of; they certainly don’t rejoin the group. The viewer probably thinks “oh no, they are dead, definitely dead,” but we don’t see anything to indicate they are killed, though the clues are there that these people can and absolutely would do such a thing (this is true for a while at least); the movie has a lot of foreshadowing and though an unsettling film I will probably never watch again, it would be interesting to view it again to pick out all the foreshadowing. Much of the film’s unsettling nature was for me to realize how strange and alien these people, the Harga, were, though a lot was waiting for the other shoe to drop, that once I realized Dani, Christian, and the others were in grave, mortal peril, what was going to happen next, though again and again Christian and the other friends seemed to have their weird, detached, clinical view of their surroundings, ignoring the great danger they were in (perhaps mirroring Christian’s emotionally distant relationship with Dani?). The last maybe quarter of the movie was horror absolutely. Not subtle, but well-done horror. I don’t want to say too much more other than the basic nature of Dani’s needful, support craving personality and Christian’s emotionally detached, clinical cultural anthropologist personality had a big impact on the fate of the two characters and the final act of the film. I never thought the pacing dragged at all, which is strange as on the surface of it there isn’t a lot of action until the very end and even then it is mostly running. Significant parts of the film are in Swedish, sometimes with subtitles, sometimes not, but this was never a problem and if anything heightened the isolation the American friends felt from the strange cult. The film did get gory at the end and also towards the end there is a good deal of nudity both male and female.
J**H
You've heard already it's a good movie
SPOILERS My review may contain what some may consider spoilers. SPOILERS I heard for awhile that this was good by a lot of people, but I put it off. I put off most movies these days when it's unclear to me if I will like the movie or not. It's a real gamble if I should spend my time on something I can't tell from the trailer if I will be into it at all. I finally made the decision to watch this because I liked Beau is Afraid- I'm really into Odyssey's - and from that I think Ari Aster has an interesting eye for visuals, and an interesting mind for subtle horror. The bluray as of this writing is also only $5. Which is the perfect price. I'm already a fan of A24. While I am not clear if they have all that many successes (there are so few in film anymore and these movies are not what I would think would be considered mainstream) I have enjoyed many of the films they put out. I really like how surreal they almost all seem to be, and they tend to be visually interesting films as well- despite their budgets. Anyway, I'm dawdling a little bit just to avoid having anything spoiler-ish about this movie near the top. I liked this movie. It is very Roman Polanski like in it's pacing, which is perfect for the film, but also a rare thing to see anymore. Which is one of the reasons I want A24 to succeed. There are not films like this made anymore because they don't make 100 billion dollars There are too many horror films made now for cheap thrills and simple shock value because that makes big numbers and costs very little. I mean, don't get me wrong that is totally fine. I enjoy all kinds of movies, and bad horror, or gore horror, and even jump out of the door at the screen and play a loud noise horror has it's place. Everyone needs to be entertained. But it's nice to occasionally get something with more actual work put into it from time to time. This movie is visually interesting, and paced well for the film. If you like Rosemary's Baby, for example, then you would enjoy this movie as that is the pacing we're talking about. The last thing I will mention as well is that I did not know this going in (and this is what I think is a spoiler), but this movie is basically just another remake of The Wicker Man only this one isn't quite as ham fisted and stupid as the 2006 one was. Sadly there is also no bags that might have a shark or something in them, either, and NO BEES! All jokes aside this is a great thriller and deserves it's reputation. I also enjoyed Beau is Afraid from Ari Aster so I am excited to see what the future holds. I do suspect to see more films like this again and less big budget mindless CGI blockbusters in the future as Hollywood burns down. But you never know.
J**N
Art appreciation
I know I am late to the party here, it took me this long to watch this movie. There are a lot of love it or hate it reviews for reason. Cinematic art films tend to do that. This one just happens to cross more than one genre. This film definitely is about grief. If you have never felt the pain of grief so bad that it felt like someone reaching into your chest to pull out your beating heart, you won't get this aspect. Dani loses everything. First her entire family, then her boyfriend. It is kind of hinted at that she isn't a neurological as in there maybe some mental illness. Her sister was definitely mentally ill. Her desperation and codependence with her boyfriend even before her tragedy comes out in her interactions with him. It is often just painful watching these two interact. With him clearly not wanting to be around her and she just desperate to keep him there. They do their awkward dance and eventually come to some sort of understanding that doesn't really satisfy either of them. This was brilliantly done and often with you seeing the emotionally distant Christian in reflection while gazing upon Dani directly but in view side by side. This was even done with his friends as he broke the news to them about that Dani was joining them on their trip. Then there was the visual choice of making all the American scenes rather dark. At first, it was because it was winter and that is the season of darkness. In the pagan traditions, the goddess (sun) goes to sleep and the horned God (moon) is active. At winter solstice, there is the welcoming of the return of the sun with the burning of a sun wheel. The summer solstice (which is midsummer), is when the celebrate the summer growth and beginning of the harvest. It might be timed different in places with shorter growing seasons but you get the idea. So America is dark, Sweden is light, pretty much all of the time. Which kind of messes with your brain when ALL of our horror stories, written or visual, occur in the unknown dark places. Here, it all happens in the light, under the base of the goddess. If you know Norse religion and stories, you know that the goddess Freja is the goddess of fertility. She is also a war/death goddess. She gets first pick of the slain in the battlefield, Odin takes the other half.The goddess (sun and then May Queen representing the goddess) based on as witness to these sacrifices in her name. A gift calls for a gift so naturally,she would bless them with continued fertility in land and among the people. What is one thing that is universal with war? Death and the grief that follows. But,the tears can be cleansing and a release, much like the rain. It washes away all that was to welcome in so that will be. Dani makes her choice to join these people,she's family that accepts her and is there for her when she suffers her final release for the old. They anguish with her and then she knows she is no longer alone in the world. She, as the goddess, accepts the sacrifices and blesses the people with her tears. All while dressed up in brightly colored and cheerful looking flowers. There is so much of that kind of imagery in this film. You expect if you are experiencing a certain emotion or seeing a particular action that the imagery would reflect that. Instead, it is often just plain beautiful, cheerful,and sometimes strangely soothing. Which is what I suspect people are finding off putting. Seeing and experiencing the grief of others makes us uncomfortable. We saw Dani grieve with big, messy, ugly cries repeatedly. Or her try to stifle that cry. Who among us hasn't done that? Couple this uncomfortable grief with a setting that doesn't match the emotion and your brain doesn't know what to do. You do kind of have to fight yourself a lot as you watch to just not make assumptions. Yes, you can see certain things happening through some foreshadowing and if you know about the very old pagan traditions. That doesn't mean you won't sit there and watch it all play out anyway,hoping for a better outcome. I give this four stars because it is a bit too long. I understand that this is even shorter than the director's cut. There is so much ritual involved. Like every moment of every day is ritual,which we know nothing about and really aren't given much information about from just watching. For people who know little of rituals (not that this is real), it's like sitting through a Latin mass. I did appreciate that all conversations between characters were real and authentic and often awkward, as it is when you are thrust among strangers speaking a different language and with different customs. You could really feel that through the screen. It is more cerebral than horror although there is some seriously gruesome violence. Paired up with the visceral reaction of the guests watching and you really feel like you went through It with them. We may have all experienced the trauma of that scene, so we'll done on making it truly horrific.
T**F
A brilliant, intelligent film.
There are spoilers ahead. This is a film that borrows heavily from the Ancient Norse traditions and pagan symbolism. As a Pagan myself, I can explain some of the visuals, and maybe some folks will look at this fantastic movie from a different, more educated perspective . People describing the film as weird or pointless need to Google Norse beliefs and lifestyle to understand mentioned traditions, runic inscriptions, and rituals. For instance, the community that seems so terrifying and alien to our group of frat kids is operating according to the basic agrarian circle of life where life, death, and rebirth are a continuous cycle and dying is as important as being born. Think about the seed being buried every year and symbolically dying to give harvest to people, which explains visuals of the plants sprouting from hands and feet, and bodies stuffed with grass. Gods were an inseparable part of the ancients' life, and were believed to continuously interact with people and grant benefits or take away their favour, depending on that interaction. one of the first references to the gods is in father Odd's name-the Old Norse root of it is the same as in the name of the God Odin, meaning estasy and fury at the same time (throughout the film, you would see people rejoice and wail in pain together in a very similar fashion, meaning that without darkness and pain there is no joy, no pleasure, no rebirth). Wailing and chanting of women during the sex scene shows that the whole community breathes the same needs and hopes, the same desires, and again, pleasure echoes pain, a child is conceived in pleasure and born in pain, for instance. Cry of women mourning with Dani is a cry of pain they all could understand. Sacrifices to the gods were a common thing, to bring harvest, fertility, continuity and luck into life. Human sacrifices, while not a daily occurence, were real-in most cases, they were voluntary and were considered extremely honourable ( i.e., bog bodies in Celtic culture). Ancient pagans were not bound by false pretenses of the modern society-emotions such as grief, sadness, and anger were as legit as happiness. Oath breaking and betrayal warranted death because it could destroy an entire community. When you watch the protagonist try to hide her overwhelming grief without any empathy from her manipulative, superficial boyfriend, and eventually break down in a wail of pain as the women of the village echo her cry-it reflects how repressed we have become in our society where nothing but fake joy is considered a valid, "normal" emotion, and where honour stands for nothing. In the Eddas (our main sources of Norse mythology) we can see how revenge and even suicide were not abnormal or shameful, especially if they were committed to honour your beloved, your kinfolk, or to meet a bigger goal of the group. Showing emotions was not considered unstable, and mourning outwardly together with your community was expected. The community of Harga is isolated from the rest of the world, they have to sustain themselves, therefore many choices they make are not only benefiting single individuals, but the whole living, breathing organism of the group. 90 year span for the festival is mentioned in the film. Ancient Norse were believed to have such festivals, during which a large number of animals was slaughtered and people, largely voluntarily, sacrificed themselves to the gods. What we perceive now as brutal, was revered and holy because people depended on each other, in the earth, and on the gods greatly to sustain life. Nine is a magical number in Norse mythology, signifying power, divinity, wisdom, magick, continuity of life. Runes that you most commonly see in the movie are Raidho and (slightly altered) Dagaz, signifying journey (through life) and new day (awakening, resurrection). Gruesome deaths modern humans are as pointlessly savage have place in this context. Desecrating the ancestral knowledge and disrespecting the law could easily destroy the closely knit ancient society; gods were appeased so the cycle of life continued. By immersing herself into Harga 's life, Dani is finally validated-all of her, not just her pleasant exterior of socially acceptable behaviour, but also her grief, desire for compassion, her rage at indifferent "friends", her scorn at Christian's betrayal, and that's why she makes that final choice. To add to this, Harga is a real place, apparently known for a famous legend of the Devil who played the fiddle for the villagers one day, and they danced until they dropped dead. Imho, it echoes the film's theme of our fear of pure unadulterated emotions as unbridled revelry became something to be ashamed of with the advent of Christianity and modernity, just as we are ashamed of showing our pain and grief.
H**T
This Film is very satisfying for me.
I stunning Ari Aster film that I really enjoyed and felt a connection to. I really like the fact this version had a DVD copy as well, even though it hangs on the DVD/VHS combo connected to my Flat CRT. I watch the Blu-Ray on my PC film screening station with no issues. You'll experience the shock and relief of the characters. I love this film.
C**S
What A Pretentious Steaming Pile
**note...there could be spoilers in this review if there truly is anyone who doesn't know exactly where this predictable and overly-long film (please Aster...for the love of all that is holy and good, employ an editor who has the gonads to stand up to you and tell you that your movie is going to be too long) is going** It became fairly evident early on in Midsommar that this wasn't going to go anywhere, except right where Ari Aster wanted it to go. Now, you might be thinking "well it's his movie, it should go where he wants it to go." And I agree. However, in a good movie, where the director wants a movie to go isn't so obvious right out of the starting gate. Aster isn't interested in creating real characters who would make decisions that real people would make. He manipulates his characters and he provides circumstances that pretty much forces them to make decisions that are so stupid and so irrational, that it becomes very difficult to care about any of them. Why would I? None of them seem like actual people. I could list numerous examples of what I'm talking about, but then I'd have to write more about this steaming pile of pretentious, wanna-be art house crap than I want to (and people will give me grief about writing spoilers and such). So I'll mention one. As soon as our wooden and robotic puppet characters get to this commune/cult place they are told that when you reach a certain age, then that's it...that's all she wrote so-to-speak. And then, we as the audience, are supposed to be horrified when something happens that any movie-goer with half a brain could see from a mile away. So what do our characters do? Do they turn tale and run? Do they get together and make a plan to escape in the night (oh wait...that's right...is it night or is it day? Note to Will Poulter's character: when you get closer to the arctic circle the days are longer in the summertime)? No. A few of them were truly upset with what they witnessed, but then some of the other visitors rationalize what happened and all is well again...until the next disturbing ritual, and the next, and the next. It's preposterous and ridiculous and almost no one makes any kind of decision that makes sense. One of the people who saw this movie with me tried to make it make sense (always a bad sign when one has to manipulate circumstances in their mind to try and make a movie character's decisions make sense) . They said, "Well, they made bad decisions because their minds were altered." The problem is, their minds weren't altered the whole time. And how's this for a rational decision? Stop drinking and eating crap, when you know that the last crap you drank and ate caused some serious issues and problems. The whole thing is just dumb. And I don't call very many movies dumb. There are plenty of movies that suck. But I will usually stop just short of calling them stupid or dumb. This movie, minus the acting, was both. And before anyone tries to bring up Aster's last film, Hereditary, save your breath (or finger strength). I saw it, and I didn't like it as much as I liked this one. I will give Aster another shot. I think directors and screenwriters deserve the same chance that a baseball player gets when they're up. However, I think I know what the result will be. He'll basically make a carbon copy of what he's already made. It will be Hereditary and Midsommar packaged a little differently, but the results will probably be the same. It will be full of disturbing images surrounded by stupid characters who make some of the most irrational decisions in the history of mankind. And if you feel the same way I do, then I'm here for you. I already know what kind of grief someone can get when they kick against the grain. You'll be ridiculed and told how shallow you are. People will accuse you of not getting "it" (whatever "it" is). Just know that most of them are like most of the critics. Sometimes when a snow ball gets rolling, no one wants to be the one who gets out of the way, lest others think they are cowards. Once the initial praise for this film started, no one (no movie-goer, no critic, etc.) wanted to be the one accused of not being creative enough, or intelligent enough, or as sophisticated enough, to really understand this film. And so the praise just kept on coming. And at that point, it was all over. Midsommar was branded a horror movie masterpiece. The problem is, it's not horror (there is not a genuinely frightening or disturbing moment in the whole film) and it sure ain't no masterpiece. If you are still a bit nervous to actually tell people how you really felt about this piece of garbage, then don't worry. Just know you are not alone.
C**S
I thought it was going to be like the Nick Cage Wickerman remake.
I was wrong... this movie is way more hilarious! No seriously though. I liked "Hereditary" for how much of a punch to the gut it felt like. So I was hoping this movie would be similarly enlightening. But um... let's see how to put this? I watched the trailer, really wanting to like it. I didn't get it. So I watched a review of it, really wanting to like it. I didn't get it. So I read the Wikipedia synopsis, really wanting to like it. I didn't get it. So finally I watched this freaking movie beginning to end. And guess what? I STILL DON'T GET IT! Hereditary, whether you liked the characters or not, had a really solid emotional core, and all the human sacrifice was scary because it felt like an extension of that. The characters in this movie, I don't like them, but I don't really hate them either. There's not a ton that sets them apart from every other group of college kids that finds themselves in a horror movie. The emotional baggage Dani has isn't poorly written in itself, but it still kinda feels like "insert backstory here". I'm wracking my brain trying to connect her character arc with the rest of the plot, and not only am I having trouble with it, but I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to think her character arc is. Either the whole point of her journey is simply realizing her boyfriend's kind of a jerk, which doesn't really pack the same punch as the inevitable fate of becoming your own parents, or I clearly missed something pivotal. I guess it's supposed to be she lost her family and found a new one? But who on earth would want this family? The entire second half of the movie, neither Dani nor Chris don't talk about what they're thinking or feeling; they just keep ricocheting between looking distressed and going along with it anyway. I'm left to figure out their motivations by their facial expressions, except in half the shots, they're too far away and the camera is warping, so I might as well guess. The suicide plotline is just kinda dropped, so by the ending, I'm not thinking "Wow, this is a climactic moment of catharsis" I'm thinking "What's happening now? Whatever. Okay" In Hereditary, the family drama and the occultism worked hand-in-hand. But with this one, the characters are just sort of there, so the rituals take center stage, but without much context on how this is significant to the main characters, or even how it's significant to the audience in some abstract way, it feels like the horror boils down to "Woo! Spooky community with spooky traditions! Silly Swedes! That's not how love potions work!" It has ideas. And it has symbolism. Oh boy, does it have symbolism! But the ideas, while some of them are admittedly a bit shocking, just pile up without ever neatly tying together like they did in Hereditary. And the symbolism HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING, ARI! It's not enough that a painting foreshadows what's going to happen. IT HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING! I could draw a painting with runes that say "I was underwhelmed" but that wouldn't automatically make me being underwhelmed a deep dive into human psychology. The best foreshadowing in movies not only hints at a later scene, but also uses subtle cues to help the audience understand what the filmmaker was trying to say with the scene, when it happens later. But unless I blinked at the wrong moment or something, I got nothing out of this. I don't know why I'm explaining this to Ari; he understood it before. So yeah. A bit of a let down. Makes Ari Aster look like a one trick pony. But I don't regret watching it. I'm not actually kidding when people compare this to the Nick Cage Wickerman. If it doesn't scare you, then like me, you might find yourself laughing uproariously through most of it. I'm not even convinced the comedy was unintentional. I didn't find many themes or motifs in this film, but the one that was impossible to miss was the feeling of being disoriented and pulled through everything by other people, because being burned alive is still less painful than the social awkwardness of just saying "no" when you don't want to do something. Just because the cult (and the director) are insisting everything about the festival is meticulously planned, that doesn't stop it from feeling like the proceedings are just a battery of randomized horror movie cliches, and it's pretty amusing just watching everyone running around frantically from one f-ed up thing to the next and screaming. Which (spoiler alert!) is literally the ending. Most of the scenes, you could just change the music and sound effects and tell me it was a black/stoner comedy and I would believe you. Like I said, it's kind of hilarious.
F**O
quand ari aster casse les codes du film d'horreur
en 1985 j'avais 14 ans quand j'ai vu pour la premiere fois l'exorciste de william friedkin, une experience inoubliable!! film culte, dérangeant et qui restera une oeuvre indémodable. j'ai toujours eu une grande passion pour le cinema de genre et il faut bien l'avouer depuis de nonbreuses années c'est le plat total.... toutes les productions actuelles cela vol tres bas.... toujours le meme scenario, zombie, maisons hantées, monstres en tout genres, ça tourne en rond! avec midsommar rien de tout ça, pas de porte qui claque, pas non plu de tueurs en serie, ou d'ombre dans le noir. ici le soleil est radieux, il fait tout le temps jour et les gens sont souriant et c'est la que la force du film prend vie, ari aster arrive à créer une atmosphere anxiogène, malaisante au fur et à mesure que le film avance. franchement je n'avais pas ressenti cela depuis l'exorciste que je revisionne régulierement. les plans de camera sont magnifique, la bande son colle parfaitement au film et les acteurs sont tous très bon! résultat final on est au dessus de l'horreur classique!! une vraie claque!! merci monsieur aster et vivement la suite de vos prochain film. bonne séance à vous tous!! fabrice 73
シ**猫
新感覚ホラー
映画の輸入盤を買うのは初めてでしたが、 こんなにコンパクトでBlu-ray、DVD、ダウンロードのコードもついてこの安さ、画質も良く、勿論無修正。 日本盤を買うのが馬鹿らしくなりますね。 映画の内容の方は、 私は好きだったので購入しましたが苦手な人は多いかも。 ホラーを期待すると怖い場面は全く無いので肩透かしを食らうと思います。
A**ー
英語の勉強になった
日本語字幕なかった
C**N
Capolavoro. Ari Aster tra Cronenberg e Kubrick
Pellicola visionaria. Non è un Horror; ma è scioccante più di un horror. Non è un Thriller ma da un certo punto in poi del plot ti tiene incollato allo schermo. Non è stracolmo di gore; ma quelle due scene madre attinte dall'antica e millenaria tradizione norrena ( compreso il Supplizio dell'aquila sanguinante) sono agghiaccianti. E poi il totale sovvertimento dei canoni del horror; la paura sotto la luce limpida e cristallina del sole di mezzanotte , i magnifici panorami naturalistici che fanno da cornice al terrore infinito sempre strisciante . Un inquietudine angosciante che prende forma fin dalle prime scene con l'atroce evento che occorre alla protagonista ( l' interpretazione di Florence Pough è superlativa, ma le sue doti straordinarie le conoscevamo già in Lady Macbeth). Un consiglio: acquistatelo in formato 4k. È di una definizione e nitidezza da lasciare a bocca aperta e l'hdr esalta al meglio gli scenari mozzafiato in cui si snoda la trama.
O**G
Not as disturbing as other reviews make it out to be
It’s a slow burn, but brilliant film. Don’t expect anything stomach churning or overly shocking though. I personally only found the final scene slightly shocking, the rest of it really isn’t that bad at all. The other reviews here make it sound blatantly disturbing. It’s definitely overrated in that regard. But nonetheless, it’s a film that will stick with you. Well worth checking out.
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