Midsommar: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|2019 film by Ari Aster}}

'''''Midsommar''''' is a 2019 [[folk horror]] film<!-- See talk page before editing genres. --> written and directed by [[Ari Aster]]. It stars [[Florence Pugh]] and [[Jack Reynor]] as an American couple who are drawn into a violent cult in rural [[Sweden]]. Supporting actors include [[William Jackson Harper]], Vilhelm Blomgren, [[Ellora Torchia]], [[Archie Madekwe]], and [[Will Poulter]].

''Midsommar'' was theatrically released in the United States by [[A24]] on July 3, 2019, and in Sweden by [[Nordisk Film]] on July 10, 2019. The film grossed $48 million and received positive reviews, with praise for Aster's direction and Pugh's performance in particular, although it polarized general [[audiences]].

Christian also decides to write his thesis on the Hårga commune, irritating Josh. Dani is disturbed by the ceremonies, but Pelle convinces her to stay. He explains that he, too, was orphaned after his parents perished in a fire, and the commune became his new family. He questions Dani over whether she feels supported by Christian. Connie and Simon demand to leave and are individually driven to a nearby train station. During his thesis research, Christian is told that outsiders are sometimes brought into the commune for "mating" purposes to avoid incest. He is encouraged to participate but refuses. After unwittingly urinating on a [[sacred tree]], Mark is lured away by one of the female commune members. That night, Josh sneaks out of bed to take illicit photographs of sacred texts. He is caught by a half-naked man wearing Mark's skinned face and is bludgeoned to death.

The following day, Dani and Christian are pressured into drinking a hallucinogenic tea. Dani wins a [[maypole]] dancing competition and is crowned [[May Queen]]. Christian drinks the hallucinogenic tea and is coerced into a sex ritual to impregnate Maja, a 15-year-old member of the Hårga, while older nude female members watch and mimic Maja's moans. Dani witnesses the ritual and has a [[panic attack]]. She is surrounded by the commune's women, who mimic her cries of despair. After the ritual, a naked Christian attempts to flee. He discovers Josh's severed leg planted in a flowerbed and a barely alive Simon on display in a barn, having been made into a [[blood eagle]]. An elder blows a powder in hisChristian's face, paralyzing him.

For the final ceremony, the commune leaders explain that the commune must offer nine [[human sacrifice]]s to purge it of evil. The first four victims (Mark, Josh, Simon, and Connie) were outsiders lured to them by Pelle and Ingemar, while the next four (the two elderly members who killed themselves in the beginning, plus volunteers Ingemar and Ulf) are from the commune. As the May Queen, Dani must choose the paralyzed Christian or a randomly selected commune member as the final sacrifice. She chooses Christian, who is stuffed into a disemboweled bear's body and placed in a wooden temple alongside the other sacrifices. As the commune prays, the temple is set alight. As the temple and its human sacrifices burn, the commune members mimic Ulf's screams. Dani sobs, but smiles as the temple collapses, slowly smiles.

The sex scene between Christian and Maja was filmed on the final day.<ref name=":7" /> Reynor said he spent time attempting to boost morale among the extras involved, none of whom spoke English, including Isabelle Grill (who plays Maja) who was appearing in her first feature film role. He reflected that he felt male nudity was unusual for a horror film, where female nudity is more typical. He said that he "advocated for as much full-frontal nudity as possible, I really wanted to embrace the feeling of being exposed and the humiliation of this character. And I felt really, really vulnerable, more than I had actually even anticipated".”<ref name=":3" />

As part of the A24 x [[IMAX]] venture, the director's cut was shown on Summer Solstice in select IMAX auditoriums on June 20, 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3814166/a24-bringing-midsommar-directors-cut-to-imax-theaters-on-june-20th/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a24-bringing-midsommar-directors-cut-to-imax-theaters-on-june-20th|title=A24 Bringing ‘Midsommar’'Midsommar' Director’sDirector's Cut to IMAX Theaters on June 20th|last=Squires|first=John|date= 2024-05-29|website=Bloody Disgusting!| access-date=June 24, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://collider.com/midsommar-directors-cut-imax-release-date/|title=The 'Midsommar' Director's Cut Is Coming to IMAX Theaters Soon|last=Mishra|first=Shrishty| date=2024-06-12|website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]]|access-date=June 24, 2024}}</ref>

For ''[[The A.V. Club]]'', A. A. Dowd stated that the film "rivals ''Hereditary'' in the cruel shock department", and labelled it a "B+ effort".<ref name="avc">{{Cite web |url=https://filmwww.avclub.com/midsommar-is-a-deranged-and-funny-folk-horror-nightm-1835707585 |last=Dowd |first=A. A. |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=June 20, 2019 |access-date=June 20, 2019 |title=''Midsommar'' Is a Deranged (and Funny!) Folk-Horror Nightmare from the Director of ''Hereditary'' |archive-date=June 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621004652/https://film.avclub.com/midsommar-is-a-deranged-and-funny-folk-horror-nightm-1835707585 |url-status=live }}</ref> Writing for [[Inverse (website)|''Inverse'']], Eric Francisco commented that the film feels "like a victory lap after ''Hereditary''", and that Aster "takes his sweet time to lull viewers into his clutches&nbsp;... But like how the characters experience time, its passage is a vague notion." He described the film as "a sharp portrayal of [[gaslighting]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/57242-midsommar-review-ari-aster-second-horror-movie-after-hereditary-shines-with-dar|title='Midsommar' Review: An Unnerving Summer Horror Where the Sun Never Sets|last=Francisco|first=Eric|website=[[Inverse (website)|Inverse]]|date=July 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-07-01|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701181102/https://www.inverse.com/article/57242-midsommar-review-ari-aster-second-horror-movie-after-hereditary-shines-with-dar|url-status=live}}</ref> Richard Brody of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' said that the film "is built on such a void of insight and experience, such a void of character and relationships, that even the first level of the house of narrative cards can't stand." He added, "In the end, the subject of ''Midsommar'' is as simple as it is regressive: lucky Americans, stay home."<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/midsommar-reviewed-ari-asters-backwards-horror-story-of-an-american-couple-in-sweden|title="Midsommar," Reviewed: Ari Aster's Backwards Horror Story of an American Couple in Sweden|last=Brody|first=Richard|magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=2019-07-08|access-date=2019-07-09|language=en|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=July 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709074334/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/midsommar-reviewed-ari-asters-backwards-horror-story-of-an-american-couple-in-sweden|url-status=live}}</ref> Emma Madden in ''[[The Guardian]]'' criticised the film for its [[Disability in horror films|depiction of disabled characters]] as "monstrous" and argued that it resurrects harmful horror film tropes of [[ableism]] and [[eugenics]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Madden |first=Emma |date=2019-07-10 |title=Midsommar's ableism resurrects the dark history of eugenics-inspired horror |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/midsommars-ableism-resurrects-the-dark-history-of-eugenics-inspired-horror-ari-aster |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en |archive-date=October 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004095655/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/10/midsommars-ableism-resurrects-the-dark-history-of-eugenics-inspired-horror-ari-aster |url-status=live }}</ref>

Tomris Laffly of [[RogerEbert.com]] rated the film 4 out of 4 stars, describing it as a "terrifically juicy, apocalyptic cinematic sacrament that dances around a fruitless relationship in dizzying circles".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Laffly |first1=Tomris |date=2019-07-01 |title=Midsommar 2019 |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/midsommar-2019 |access-date=10 September 2022 |website=[[RogerEbert.com]]|archive-date=September 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910033906/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/midsommar-2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> A [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|''Vanity Fair'']] article from December 2019 reflecting on the [[History of horror films|2010s in horror films]] argued that ''Midsommar'' was part of a trend of "[[elevated horror]],", along with Aster's previous ''Hereditary'' and [[Robert Eggers]] -directed [[The Witch (2015 film)|''The Witch'']], and that it was an example of "horror at its best".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Bradley |first=Laura |date=2019-12-17 |title=This Was the Decade Horror Got "Elevated" |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/12/rise-of-elevated-horror-decade-2010s |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |language=en-US |access-date=2022-01-27}}</ref>