Midsommar
Blu-ray | DVD | Digital
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster
Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Archie Madekwe, Ellora Torchia, Will Poulter
Distributor: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
Release Date: October 8, 2019

If there was a movie that could epitomize living through a great tragedy while being in a toxic relationship, it would have to be Ari Aster‘s ambitious film Midsommar. An unconventional horror to say the least, the film is a slow burn that scares you at just the right moments, and then hits you even harder when you least expect it. Though that slow burn pacing may backfire, there is more than enough from Aster’s deft hand direction and star Florence Pugh’s performance to grab the audience’s attention and never let go. My full Blu-ray review of Midsommar here below.

Midsommar isn’t exactly one to shy away from the harsh realities of life. Using grim imagery, Aster shocks his audience by giving a complete view of the death of Dani’s (Florence Pugh) family at the hands of her mentally ill sister. Turning it up a notch, he takes this trip to Sweden to lure the audience into a false sense of security, because even though Dani and her friends are going to a remote forest in Sweden where the sun doesn’t set, there is a sinister aura that the audience can feel but the characters are completely unaware of. That is felt through thanks to the pacing and the score.

While it may be a slow burn kind of film, the shocks create enough of trauma but will have you stick around until the end just to see what will happen to everyone. And there is nothing subtle about this village in the remote Swedish forest. While everything has its purpose and a long history attached to it, it provides the audience with some much-needed exposition, while giving many of our characters a reason to stick around, despite how graphic and disturbing the imagery may be. And so slowly, we have an understanding of this village’s history, as Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) takes his friends on a tour of all the buildings. Even when Mark (Will Poulter) proceeds to urinate on a sacred tree, we understand that the tree is of great importance to the people of this village.

There are rituals where those who reach the age of 72 willingly walk off a cliff, much to the shock of Dani, but to the intrigue of her unfortunate friends. Slowly, Midsommar reveals itself to be an allegory for grief and toxic relationships. Not only that, but it also takes place during the daytime, which only adds to the allure and false sense of safety. Because, nothing fatal ever happens to anyone in a secretive commune in a remote part of a forest where the dwellers practice bloody rituals and make visitors drink hallucinogenics. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, there are very few bonus features that come with this Blu-ray Edition. In fact, there are only two. There is no audio commentary or director’s cut. Just a featurette called “Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar” and the hilarious “Bear in a Cage.”