Viewing Journal: 7/10/2019

289) MIDSOMMAR
(2019 dir. Ari Aster) Date Seen: July 10 2019

This felt like Ari Aster set out to make a new pagan/folk horror classic but his ulterior aspiration to make something artsy got a little out of hand. There's a chilling sequence early on (involving elderly people & a cliff) that had me in full edge-of-my-seat mode, excited to see what else was in store. Sadly that feeling faded away due to almost everything that followed taking a turn for the ostentatious. By the end of MIDSOMMAR I felt like the movie had become mutilated beyond recognition via its own self-importance. This time around Aster (HEREDITARY) seemed more interested in padding his sophomore feature with the kitschiest directing choices imaginable rather than developing any of his characters. So when it came time to strike all those big dramatic notes & reveals in the 2nd & 3rd act, they all just plopped flat with thuds. But you can bet your ass those moments were all framed in that affected (teetering on self-parody) über-precise way. So many scenes of poor Florence Pugh (LADY MACBETH) trying to convey phases of raw emotional chaos; scenes that could have been Isabelle Adjani in POSSESSION brilliant are instead rendered almost comical by Ari Aster’s staging. & by the end we’re left with the taste of unearned emo nihilism in our mouths.. It could have been worse though. It’s not like it’s Dawson’s Creek doing WICKER MAN 2006. But we’re losing our heads if we try to convince ourselves it’s Ingmar Bergman doing WICKER MAN ’73.

↓ For Your Consideration: Florence Pugh ↓