Writer-Director Ari Aster has shown, for better or worse, that he has a certain preoccupation with trauma. In both of his feature films, Hereditary (2018) and Midsommar (2019), Aster aims his lens on flawed, yet sympathetic female protagonists who experience gut-wrenching trauma. The lead characters both lose loved ones under grisly and macabre circumstances. Subsequently, they are subjected to increasingly strange and horrific trauma of an entirely different sort.
Midsommar follows Dani (Florence Pugh) as she attempts to cope with the sudden death of her sister and parents. Having shown concern for her mentally ill sister, Dani comes to find out that her sister took her own life, as well as the lives of their parents. At the same time, she attempts to deal with her emotionally distant boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor). Though Christian and his fellow classmates are eager to see the relationship end, Christian feels obligated to stay with Dani in the aftermath of the tragedy.
This is the initial setup for Midsommar‘s main plot. One of Christian’s classmates, Pelle, is planning to return to his native Sweden over the summer. Unbeknownst to Dani, Pelle has invited Christian and the rest of their friends to his family’s remote commune for a midsummer festival. Dani, who continues to cling to Christian for emotional support, ends up tagging along, much to the dismay of his all-male friend group. However, once they arrive in Sweden, Dani quickly regrets coming on the trip. Soon, the entire group discovers that the community’s strange customs are much more sinister than they first appeared.
It is interesting to look at Midsommar in relation to Hereditary, as Aster went to great lengths to give each film a distinct look and feel, despite their thematic similarities. Hereditary is dark, moody, and nihilistic; it is also one of the best atmospheric horror films in recent memory. Midsommar, on the other hand, takes an entirely different aesthetic approach.
During summer months in Sweden, the sun never sets. Depending on the exact location, those in the Swedish countryside may experience only one or two hours of darkness per day for months at a time. This phenomenon is used in Midsommar to put the horrors of the Swedish commune on full display. As film spectators, we are usually terrified by what we can’t see; obscuring our ability to perceive things properly makes them frightening because we fear the unknown. Aster flips this concept on its head in Midsommar, where we are terrified by everything that we can see.
Much like Hereditary, Midsommar inserts sequences of increasingly graphic violence to put viewers on edge. However, unlike most traditional horror films, Midsommar does not use the female body as an object on which to inflict violence and pain. Generally, when you watch slasher films or similarly violent horror films, the “final girl” goes through great physical torment before either escaping death or succumbing to it. However, this is not the case in Ari Aster’s films.
As previously stated, Aster seems very interested in the concept of trauma. His female leads are initially defined by their trauma, and are then subjected to more and more traumatic experiences as the films reach their climax. In a sense, Aster replaces the violence that is usually inflicted on female characters with emotional trauma. While the threat of pain and death is always present, these women are instead the victims of relentless psychological distress.
Midsommar is a particularly fascinating horror film because it works against many tropes of the genre. However, it is not without fault. Some elements of the plot feel a bit far-fetched, while others appear completely unnecessary. For example, one seemingly vital plot line involves a deformed member of the commune whose birth was the result of inbreeding. After his initial appearance, the audience is inclined to believe that he will return; we think that this subplot will carry much greater significance by the time the credits roll. However, these anticipated events are never fully realized, leaving viewers to wonder why the character was ever introduced in the first place.
Though Midsommar is not a perfect film, it is both highly entertaining and genuinely frightening. It uses excessive light to great and surprising effect, and provides a refreshing visual change for fans of the horror genre. While Ari Aster shows a clear artistic style in both Hereditary and Midsommar, he also shows the ability to infuse new and interesting ideas into each of his films.
Rating: ★★★★ out of 5
If you’d like to watch Midsommar, it is currently available to purchase via Amazon here.