Midsommar (2019) - 4/10 (Didn't like it)
A graduate student couple in a deteriorating relationship joins friends on a trip to Sweden to take part in a rural community's mid-Summer festival that turns bizarre. First of all, I thought that it was refreshing that the couple looked and felt like real people. The actors have average American, non-Hollywood body types and the characters have personal and relationship issues. I liked how beautifully shot the film was once it got to Sweden and I was intrigued by the setting, with all of the open space and communal buildings. The direction is occasionally powerful and haunting, similar to Hereditary, especially early. I somewhat liked the first act and was looking forward to seeing where the film would go.
Unfortunately, the second and third acts were disappointing. The second drags, with too many of the same types of scenes (especially meal and ritual scenes), and the writing starts to get a little unbelievable and contrived (ex. to excuse the characters not getting the heck out of there). Also, it starts getting pretty predictable, either because it's obvious what's about to happen or because it was shown to you in a mural several scenes earlier. That undermines the shock value that the director seemed to be going for and much of the point of the film: to be unsettling. I expected to be more unsettled by the film than I ended up being.
The film might've been saved by a strong third act, but it felt too much like other folk horror films. In fact, the final scene felt a bit like a rip-off to me. Waiting over two and a half hours for something that I've essentially seen before was a disappointment. Also, although I initially thought that the couple's relationship was refreshingly real, it gradually went in a predictable, tired direction. Just before the credits started rolling, I started rolling my eyes, to say the least.
The film felt like it started as a 90-minute "slasher" horror movie and got padded with an hour of relationship drama and pretentiousness to try to make a work of art out of it. I did admire many things about it and really wanted to like it, but I also couldn't help but imagine that I would've enjoyed it more if it had been a lot leaner. It still may not have been scary or original, but at least it would've been shorter and something that I probably would've watched it again at some point, anyways. As is, I can't see myself wanting to see it again.
FYI, I saw the Director's Cut, which adds 24 minutes to the run time, making for a 2hr 50min watch. That likely contributed to it feeling too long and as though it dragged, but it also adds a number of scenes that improve the story a little, so the two probably cancelled each other out and I doubt that my overall feelings would've been any more positive or negative if I'd seen the theatrical cut, instead.
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