Midsommar is terrifying, chilling, and beautiful.

This post is coming to you a whole week after I saw Midsommar, but don’t take that to mean I didn’t like it. Instead, take it to mean that the film made me feel many, many emotions and I needed time to figure out what exactly I wanted to say about this masterpiece. Because that’s exactly what it was—a masterpiece.

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Midsommar (2019) is the second film after Hereditary (2018) to come from writer-director Ari Aster, distributed by A24. The story follows Dani, a college student going through a recent family tragedy, and her boyfriend, Christian, an anthropology graduate student. The pair make up a rocky couple, very obviously going through road bumps that date far before Dani’s recent emotional trauma. Nevertheless, the two embark on a trip to Sweden, namely a fictional commune coined by Aster as the Hårga. The homeland of Pelle, Christian’s college friend, the Hårga encapsulates the feel and look of any other Swedish ancestral commune. Only this one is with a lot more gore: there's blood, death, violence, while also the occasional mallet-to-the-head. And don’t worry, if you’ve never seen what a mallet-to-the-head would actually look like on someone, you will after this chilling film. But if you're anything like me, you probably won't be seeing much of it because your eyes will be 95% covered by your hands while irritatingly asking your friend what's going on because you're too chicken to look.

Knowing my own expertise (or lack thereof) alone wouldn’t allow me to appreciate the cultural significance of Midsommar, I opted to prepare myself by reading CNN Travel’s analysis on how Aster brings in pagan folk horror and incorporates it into the 21st century to create this terrifying, disturbing visual trip. Disclaimer: by trip, I don't just mean this fun little excursion to a Scandinavian Nordic country in Northern Europe; I mean a literal trip. Throughout the film, the characters are repeatedly encouraged by the commune natives to consume a particular herb either by shrooms or tea that takes you on a little.... journey. And poor Dani participates despite not feeling up for it (given her recent experience) so as not to inconvenience anyone. You suck, Christian.

The pair, along with William Jackson Harper's Josh and Will Poulter's Mark, observe and sometimes reluctantly partake in the commune’s Midsommar traditions, a festival of which only takes place once every ninety years. And thankfully so, because the rituals and activities it encompasses, although mesmerizing, sort of involve human sacrifices that we don't hear much about in civilizations today (at least not to my knowledge). But anyways, back to the mesmerizing part. The cinematography is done in such a way that the harmonious beauty of these rituals and the commune's outward appearance is almost enough to steer you away from the commune's inward nature— disturbing, carnal, and murderous. Midsommar is a visionary folk horror unlike any other, because it successfully terrifies you all while telling its tale mostly in broad daylight. And you'll be thankful it does so, after seeing just how striking and emotionally-charged those open, raw, and colorful shots are.

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A noteworthy strength of this film is how spectacularly Aster takes these pagan traditions and transforms them into something so terrible, while still mastering the ability to keep their use tasteful and treated with respect. Let’s not forget a Swedish production company commissioned the movie, according to CNN Travel. Although, it did leave an impression that has left me somewhat weary and skeptical of anyone in my life inviting me to their homeland overseas. You’ll see why after watching.

After experiencing a difficult breakup himself, Aster makes it evidently obvious that's the underlying message of the film— and a messy, disastrous one at that, resulting in this perverse, horrific tale complete with revenge fantasy and sadism. Throughout the story, Florence Pugh's Dani becomes more and more exasperated with Christian, who is not there for her emotionally. What we are shown then as a result of this is something to really appreciate: this is not a story about the end result, but rather the trip one takes to get there.

Audiences already come in with the understanding that this is a horror film about unwitting Americans visiting a secluded, foreign village. I think we can all pretty much guess what fate our writer-director has decided to bestow upon them. The excitement then, the eyes-glued-to-the-screen as we think “oh god I’m so scared but I can’t not watch” feeling, comes from the journey our core group takes to get to get to that sealed fate. Once Aster successfully and fully develops each of his central characters, we experience a well-crafted plot complete with suspense, a climax, and a gratifying ending.

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A refreshing divergence from the modern take on folk and indie horror in this film is its humor. We see it in the dialogue between the Americans, between them and the commune's natives, and in the way those natives carry out seemingly normal routines we, as the audience, observe. Not only are some of these tasks the villagers do hilarious on their own, but the stoic nature they go about them is equally comedic. ("Maja put WHAT in Christian's cake?!") It's done in all seriousness, but I'd be surprised if you told me you didn't at least crack a smile when that scene came up. Poulter's Mark is especially fun to watch, serving as the suspense's mood-killer that audiences either hate to love or love to hate in any classic horror film.

If you fell in love with Pugh after watching this (join the club), you can see her again in Greta Gerwig's highly-anticipated adaptation of Little Women, set to hit theaters by Christmas of this year. Pugh stars as youngest March sister Amy, alongside Meryl Streep, Timotheé Chalamet, Soairse Ronan, and Emma Watson. As for Aster? I'm not really sure, but I can definitely tell you I'll be eagerly awaiting his next project. Only this time, for my sake, I sincerely hope there's less perturbing themes with just as many striking visuals. But can we really expect that from the guy who's two directorial feature films are THIS and Hereditary?!

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