Safety tip for international travelers: When in Sweden, check your pot pie for pubes. It’s important to remember the film Midsommar bears the same resemblance to modern Sweden as Deliverance reflects upon the United States. [I.e. Little to none.] Americans are susceptible to believe anything these days, and when it comes to Sweden, most of our minds are empty slates, so this is actually kind of important; don’t avoid Sweden just because you fear pubic pot pie.
You’ll forgive my blue; Midsommar is a very strange and very adult film. Four American grad school students are brought to a remote corner of a remote country to celebrate a unique take on Midsummer, a traditional holiday in northern Europe to mark the summer solstice. The bucolic setting and amiable cosplay anticipate a pleasant week ahead. Here’s the thing – Midsommar’s bland is attractive, artistic, methodical, and deliberate — like the creation of a spider web. The kids (Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, and Will Poulter) are brought to a football-field sized meadow where the denizens are all wearing white robes and smiles. This remote area is placid, tranquil. Here’s a big welcome barn where we all sleep; here’s a long welcome runic-shaped table where we all eat; here are some welcome murals depicting graphic acts of sex and violence. Isn’t that sweet? Don’t mind those … oh, and don’t mind the welcome hallucinations, either; that’s just the welcome ‘shrooms we’ve been feeding you.
Dani (Pugh) and Christian (Reynor) are couple to the delight of … no one. Even Dani and Christian have doubts, but right about as Christian was going to find religion at the start of the film, Dani’s sister claimed the lives of herself and her parents. So Christian charity had another go and the couple lived on. But Christian bros Josh (Harper) and Mark (Poulter) were imagining Midsommar sexcapades; hence Dani’s inclusion spoiled a potential week visiting the Nutcracker Swede. Even Christian doesn’t want Dani on their vaca. The only person who actually seems to want Dani there is the trip instigator, fellow bro and exchange student Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). I suppose as the host, he feels “the more the merrier.”
Now it’s all fun and games until the old people go splat! Our “heroes” are put into the “Summer” barn for 18-36 year-olds. 0-18 = “Spring”, 36-54 = “Autumn”, 54-72= “Winter.” What happens after 72? I’m so glad you asked. Have you seen Logan’s Run? Imagine that only really, really graphic. This is exactly the charm of Midsommar. It seems like a normal festival. Heck, it could be the Renaissance Fair or the Scottish Highland games: A lot of folks in costume acting out their roles for the people who aren’t. “Isn’t this fun? Wouldn’t you like to join us? You could wear a costume, too!” And then Grandma Inga pulls a Greg Louganis off Pride Rock directly onto not-so-Proud rock. No detail left unspared … well, except for her scores. I’d give her a 5.6.
Florence Pugh is #1 on my list of “people I didn’t know coming into 2019, but I sure the heck know now.” Between this and Fighting with My Family, Florence has logged a fair amount of screen time, and some of it is even worthwhile. The role of Dani was clearly written with Jennifer Lawrence in mind, but seeing as Jennifer Lawrence didn’t take the part, Florence holds her own as “all-over-the-map” lover-mourner-journeywoman. Swedish Renaissance Fairs notwithstanding, there will be a lot more of FloPu in the future. Wow, that is one terrible contraction.
Midsommar is a thoughtful and methodical thriller. It put me in the mind of films like Deliverance, Straw Dogs, and Wicker Man (the original, please, not the Nicolas Cage fiasco). These are films in which outsiders to a closed community are only welcomed at a price, and that price is neither immediately identifiable nor immediately extracted. In fact, Midsommar feels a lot like Wicker Man, which is a shame because now I can’t get “NOT THE BEES!” out of my head. I’d be happier with a true protagonist for a film a like this, or leaving the theater not feeling a bit queasy for the spectacle presented, but I cannot fault the film for being exactly what it intended to be – a slo-cook horror.
♪(Mid)sommar lovin’ paid my respects
(Mid)sommar lovin’ murals of sex
Met Hilda crazy for me
Made a pie, full of debris
(Mid)sommar sane can be a pain, but oh oh the (Mid)sommar shed
Tell me Sven, tell me Sven
Is it lutefisk again?
Tell me Lars, tell me Lars
Did you take out their cars?
She danced by me, gave me a shock
It’s still light out, at twelve o’clock
Then this lady took to the air
Took a header, brains everywhere
(Mid)sommar “heat,” quite a retreat, but oh oh the (Mid)sommar shed♫
Rated R, 147 Minutes
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster
Genre: There’s some f***ed up s*** going on here, I tell ya
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People who study cults
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who only enjoy traditional film
♪ Parody Inspired by “Summer Nights”
