After watching 2018’s drama/thriller Hereditary and absolutely loving it, you can imagine my excitement when it was revealed that the director of Hereditary would be releasing a new movie in the summer of 2019, appropriately titled Midsommar. 

I walked into my showing of Midsommar with very high hopes, and I must say, I was not disappointed. 

The film starts off with the main character Dani, played by Florence Pugh, desperately trying to get ahold of her mentally ill sister who has sent her a series of cryptic messages. This starts off the film’s constant theme of family trauma. It also shows right off the bat that Florence Pugh plays one hell of a broken woman. 

The film continues on to show the lack of care that Dani’s boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) has for her. From the beginning, it is revealed to us that he resents his five year relationship with Dani, but cannot seem to break it off. 

The film takes a turn when Christian, Dani, and his friends go to a commune in Sweden for a midsummer festival that only happens once every 90 years. As soon as the group arrives, we are sent into a drug-induced trip, courtesy of the mushrooms eaten by the friends. This is something that happens many times throughout the rest of the movie, which was slightly disorientating, since the scenes themselves were distorted. However, I think that was what the director was going for. 

The next hour and a half of the film is filled with drugs, cult activity, twisted ceremonies and unusual rituals (the commune has a “love spell” that will make your stomach turn.) I’m not going to lie, there was a healthy amount of gore. However, it was not schlocky, in-your-face or trying to be the absolute grossest thing you’ve ever seen. It felt very real, which makes the gory scenes even more off-putting.

The final scene is one that stuck with me. In my opinion, it was the perfect ending to this very twisted tale. But I won’t ruin that for you, because this film is one that you’re going to want to see. 

I give this film a strong 9.5 out of 10.

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