Midsommar 2019

       Dani and Christian are a young American couple with their relationship on the brink of falling apart?  Dani is very worried about her sister and she needs support from Christian.  Dani’s sister commits suicide and Dani needs Christian even more now.  Dani learns that Christian and his friends are going on a trip to a remote Swedish village.  Dani is not sure she wants to go but it might be a relief to see a midsummer festival and get away from her grief.  The villagers invite their guests to partake in the festivities but this may be a mistake.  The American’s don’t know very much about this community and their beliefs?

     This is an extremely violent horror movie from the maker of Hereditary and rated R for many reasons!!  There is a sinister, ages-old ceremony with disturbing rituals.  Characters are beaten, there is a suicide, a nightmare sequence, vomiting, screaming and arguing.  Use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, other kinds of mysterious drugs, e-cigarettes, cigarettes and a pipe.  This has very mature themes and is not recommended for young viewers.  On the lighter side, some  of the relationships go from OK to really bad.  It’s also possible to have a very bad vacation.  I would watch this film in the daylight and a long time before going to bed!!  2* (I didn’t like this movie)

148 min, Drama directed and written by Ari Aster with Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Ellore Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Henrik Norlen, Gunnel Fred, Isabelle Grill, Agnes Westerlund Rase, Julia Ragnarsson, Mats Blomgren, Lars Varinger, Anna Astrom. 

Note:  Imdb 7.1* out of 10* with 176,518 reviews, Rotten tomatoes 83% with 385 critics 63% with 5230 ratings, Metacritic 72 out of 100 with 54 critics (42 positive, 10 mixed, 2 negative) 6.4 out of 10 with 530 ratings (333 positive, 87 mixed, 110 negative), Common Sense Media, 1* positive, 5* violence, 5* sex, 4* language, 3* drinking, drugs, smoking, Roger Ebert 4* Tomris Laffly, The Guardian 5* Peter Bradshaw, Washington Post 1 1/2* Ann Hornaday. 

 
Special Note:  Thirty minutes was cut from the final film to receive a better MPAA rating.  The director’s cut restores this footage.  Most of the Swedish dialogue spoken by the Harga natives is not subtitled.  This creates a sense of isolation for the audience and for the American visitors.  Most of the filming was shot in Hungary.  Director Ari Aster has a real-life fear of bugs and illness.  He wore two pairs of socks over his jeans to ensure he would not receive bug bites and Will Poulter in the role of Mark followed Ari’s example!!