31 Days of Halloween: Midsommar

 2019, Ari Aster (Hereditary) -- Netflix

Starting in 2011 we (Marmy and I, as Kent is not much of a horror fan) began celebrating the Halloween season (all of October, of course) by watching too many horror / Halloween related movies, most of them bad.  2012 had a few flicks but not the full month. Un/Re-employment killed 2013. Apathy slayed 2014. But we returned in 2015 with a full run. 2016 had a good start, but stalled in the last few days, likely due to work life. 2017 almost started with a fizzle, but then I remembered, "It's October 1st !"  It still fizzled. Life abounds. And in 2018, almost the entire year was Halloween *ahem* as in the year of posting was mostly October. 2019 did alright for itself, considering I went off to Las Vegas sometime in the month. 2020 was it's own horror fest, and I am not kidding or being pithy in the least; the horror movies we watched were almost a relief.

This year was almost forgotten about, and did not have the ritualistic "let's Google what the best horror movies of the past year have been" but did include lots of, "Let's just save that movie for October." Besides, we have TONS of movies downloaded or bookmarked from previous years, that we never got around to.

For example.

It is strange. Despite the stress I put on myself to watch and write about a movie every... single... day, I most often look forward to this month. I actually seem to enjoy writing about these movies more than I do the daily "reviews", a term I am still loathe to use, because I do not like the structure of a review, the journalism of it. But in writing quickly and often about the horror movies I am watching, I am more doing journaling than journalism. Besides, by this time, after having watched hundreds of horror movies for this event alone, it is like pulling on an old, warm, comforting coat, for it is Fall.

To quote myself, when writing about Aster's debut Hereditary, it was completely in an "unsettled space". Many horror movies are, as the technique moves us out of groove of complacency & comfort into a mindset ready to be disturbed. This movie begins in the US with a murder/suicide, the unbearable weight of the consequences and the utter distain of toxic masculinity. Dani (Florence Pugh, Black Widow) briefly worries about her suicidal sister while dealing with Dick Boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor, Kin) before learning of said sister's suicide, and murder of their parents. Christian does not want to be supportive, nor do his thesis-writing friends, but what choice does the guy have? He may be a dick but he's not entirely a monster. Or so he tells himself.

The movie then moves to Sweden, north of Stockholm, six months later (a time jump left subtle so we can go from mid-western US winter to....) in the bright light of Mid Summer, above the Arctic Circle where the sun never truly sets. It really shouldn't be that bright, but the commune Pelle grew up in is eerily bright and shiny, full of reflective surfaces, pristine white clothing and brightly smiling folk. Not at all disturbing.

We moved from one unsettled space into an entirely new one, one we will never leave.

Aster has shown now that he is all about the finely created details of his setting. Like the intricate miniature models of Hereditary, the commune is replete with background details. Sure, he is creating another world to force our average Americans into, but there is so much there. The clothing is simple yet adorned with intricate needle work, both the familiar red and blue stitching, but also much more intricate designs. Paintings and murals abound in the interiors of their well built structures, many telling (from right to left) disturbing tales of commune culture. And amid the beautifully constructed buildings are a few discordant, weird angled ones, that hint at the disruptions beneath this very pretty surface.

But we know this. We know we are watching a "horror" movie. We know something has to Go Wrong. We know that there will be an evil beneath these seemingly benevolent folk. So, knowing that, Aster doesn't take very long to reveal it to us, with a ritualistic suicide of two aging members of the commune. Horrific, graphic and shocking. But not unexpected. Still, that is not good for Dani in her current state of mind. Of course, the toxic boyfriend and others are more intrigued -- don't judge the weird rituals of the locals! Only the British tourists, brought to the event by Pelle's childhood friend, react accordingly and plan to leave the next "morning".

But again, we know things won't go well. We know that any plans to leave will be foiled. We know that nobody can be allowed to escape. And yet Aster just has us move along, learning more about the cult (commune is now too nice a word) again supplying us with endless pretty details to be absorbed in, to disarm Dani, to distract the rest but lead them all to whatever end the community has in mind for them.

After that initial shock, nothing else is really overt. Oh sure, horrible and disturbing, but nothing is ever SHOCKING. More so it's the horror of knowing they are all doomed, a very bright and entirely peaceful doom. And maybe it is actually what Dani has needed all along, so wrapped up in her grief, without any real support provided. These people really do seem to want her here, but for what end?

In the end, did I like this movie? As an exercise in creation, yes. As a plot, not so much. All the performances are solid, especially so (bias acknowledged) Pugh who bears her grief like a wounded beast, but nothing ever really drew me in. It was like being a tourist at a high end resort, where everything is very well constructed, very well presented, all meticulous and well designed, but beneath all that, I didn't find much character, much depth. The allusions and metaphors are also all there, but didn't serve me as a viewer. If anything did, it was that I never felt weighed down by the two and bit hours of the movie; I was always there, which in of itself is an accomplishment.

Kent wrote about it here, and yes, before I did. Nobody is more shocked than I was.