Midsommar

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"Midsommar is an upcoming American horror film written and directed by Ari Aster. It stars Jack Reynor, Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Vilhem Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Ellora Torchia and Archie Madekwe. It is scheduled to be released on August 9, 2019.

A couple travels to Sweden to visit their friend's rural hometown for its fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult." - Wikipedia




Yeah buddy, that image looks closer to the visual style of Aster's short films (from what I can tell), so many this is a more personal project? Looking forward to it!



This might just do nobody any good.
I still haven’t seen Hereditary.

Anyways, Wicker Man yay!



28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
After Hereditary, I'm eager to see if Aster can keep it going.
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Suspect's Reviews



On paper it doesn't come across as a particularly original or creative concept, but it's all in the execution. For example, that touch of surrealism, with its dream-like atmosphere is in itself a very clever decision in terms of setting yourself apart. It's equally stunning and unnerving, ha. This looks great, can't wait!



https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/...-july-release/

"Originally set for release on August 9th, we’ve learned out of CinemaCon today that Hereditary directorAri Aster‘s new horror film Midsommar will now be releasing on July 3rd!"



This is on my radar
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F**k yes! This is exactly my type of film. I read some things on IMDB about the gore and pagan rituals.. .this is up my alley.

WARNING: "Spoiler Alert!!" spoilers below


Sex & Nudity
At two points in the film, female pubic hair and period blood is consumed. This is more disturbing than sexual.
A ritualistic sex scene with nudity
Full frontal female nudity
Brief full frontal male nudity

Violence & Gore
The third act is incredibly graphic and violent Based on the trailer and having read an early draft on the script the following scenes remain in:
A double murder suicide occurs a the beginning of the film.
Two old men cut their hands with knives and then plummet off of a cliff to their deaths. One of them survives the fall and breaks multiple bones. A man then beats him to death with a mallet, supposedly to put him out of his misery.
A bunch of animals are bound with ropes and have their throats slashed. Very bloody.
A character has his abdomen cut open.
A character is skinned (offscreen).
A character is drowned offscreen.
Two corpses have their eyeballs removed.
Several people are burned to death.
A man wears another man's face as a mask
A man hangs from the ceiling. He's suspended from a rope by a wound in his ankle.
A man is sewn into the carcass of a bear and steam-boiled alive inside of it. Will probably be incredibly graphic and disturbing to see.
The trailer contains an image of a mutilated old man's leg which i believe is one of the 2 men that jump off the cliff his body will get pummeled by a mallet, being carried by a man also in the new trailer at the bottom of the cliff where the old man is lying
A bunch of dead pigs is seen on pikes
Corpses, blood, mutilation, animal cruelty, vomit, and offscreen brutality is present towards the end of the film

AND A LOT MORE!




After having reflected on this movie I think I upped my rating from a 6 and a half to a seven and a half.

For those who have seen it:

WARNING: spoilers below
It's still not as good as Hereditary because it is overlong, has vague symbolism and is a bit "outsiders get picked off one by one in a cult"

But do you think on some level this movie is 'anti organised religion'? The couple that jump off the rock don't appear to achieve enlightenment and want to be put out of their misery. The sacrifices in the fire are seen screaming in pain, not at peace with their end. I mean the guy called CHRISTIAN is literally murdered. Maybe it's just coincidence.

Also, we are not made aware of Christian's second name - while her name is Dani Ardor. Dani is hebrew and translates as 'God is my judge' while Ardor is a noun describing great intensity, passion and emotion. Just a bit of context into the whole religion thing.




After having reflected on this movie I think I upped my rating from a 6 and a half to a seven and a half.

For those who have seen it:

WARNING: spoilers below
It's still not as good as Hereditary because it is overlong, has vague symbolism and is a bit "outsiders get picked off one by one in a cult"

But do you think on some level this movie is 'anti organised religion'? The couple that jump off the rock don't appear to achieve enlightenment and want to be put out of their misery. The sacrifices in the fire are seen screaming in pain, not at peace with their end. I mean the guy called CHRISTIAN is literally murdered. Maybe it's just coincidence.

Also, we are not made aware of Christian's second name - while her name is Dani Ardor. Dani is hebrew and translates as 'God is my judge' while Ardor is a noun describing great intensity, passion and emotion. Just a bit of context into the whole religion thing.

I haven't thought about it in that way, but that's a very interesting point. I doubt that their names are a coincidence, so that makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Especially Dani's name.

I rated it a 7/10, I thought it was gonna be an 8 and am a bit disappointed with the lack of actual scary elements, but the cinematography was beautiful and it really stuck with me.



After having reflected on this movie I think I upped my rating from a 6 and a half to a seven and a half.

For those who have seen it:

WARNING: spoilers below
I
But do you think on some level this movie is 'anti organised religion'? The couple that jump off the rock don't appear to achieve enlightenment and want to be put out of their misery. The sacrifices in the fire are seen screaming in pain, not at peace with their end. I mean the guy called CHRISTIAN is literally murdered. Maybe it's just coincidence.

WARNING: "Spoiler" spoilers below
This is a form of organized religion. It was structured on its methods of worship. Not the same as Christianity but yes, there are many cultures similar to this such as Druidism and even other forms of pagan religion.

As far as the couple killing themselves because they have reached a certain age, look at "Logan's Run", their society said they must commit to death at the age of 30. That is far shorter than "Midsommar"s 72 years of age. As far as the method in which they died, there are many cultures that have strange death rites. This movie/society was no different. Early cultures believed it was a great honor to die for the Gods/Goddesses and this movie is no less.

Human sacrifice was not uncommon to early non-Christians. Julius Ceasar wrote a dramatic account of the Wicker Man, in which Robin Hardy's film was a bit based on. The film was actually based on the novel "The Ritual" by David Pinner. Each culture had its own reasons for human sacrifice. Either an outsider, usually a prisoner of war, or by drawing of a "lot" the person was chosen.

In the case of Midsommar, it was for a commune member to bring "special guests" but in the case of Dani Ardor, she had lost her family and was easily converted into the flock.
She was looking for a replacement of the family she lost.

As for Christian and the scene in the meeting house, sex in paganism is not a shock. Pagans do not view the nude body or sexuality outside of marriage or even homosexuality as a sin. Beltaine (May Day) and Midsummer are two sabbaths where sex can be indulged for the purpose of fertilization, not only of the crops to grow but of the human body to populate and continue their beliefs. However, Dani's anger was true due to loss and betrayal which caused her pain that she selected the next member to be sacrificed.

I completely understood the movie and enjoyed it immensely.

I found this article online and it was a bit interesting

https://www.oxygen.com/martinis-murd...crifice-sweden




Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
I saw the movie and felt it was really kind of terrible really.

WARNING: "SPOILERS" spoilers below
The protagonist has the same emotional mood for the whole movie. Crying, whining and occasionally puking is her whole character really.

And when she finally changes emotions in the end and becomes psychotic, you just don't buy the transformation at all.

Also, there are things in the plot that do not make sense. Why do the two main American can characters keep sticking around, when all this crazy stuff keeps happening. They witness crazy suicides, one where the rest of the kill the man who fail's suicide and finish him off brutally. Is this enough to get them to want to leave. Nope. Then one by one, others start mysteriously disappearing. Does this get them to want to leave? No. Then the guy finds pubic hairs in his drink. Does this get them to want to leave? No. Etc.

So I didn't buy the characters wanting to stick around at all, and I didn't buy the psychotic transformation.

Also, they never explain what this mysterious culture is really about, or why they want to make this new stranger their new Queen or leader it seems. Or what made her so special that she should be compared to everyone else who was worthy of death. It doesn't seem to matter because the movie didn't seem to have a really story to tell.

Also, you could have cut out over half this movie and it wouldn't have made any difference to the so called pay off.

For example, they are mad at the one guy because he pees on their tree. But since they were killing the other Americans, I think they would have killed him anyway. I don't think he needed to pee on a tree to give them any extra motivation, since they were already killing everyone else. But that's just one example.

I am also really surprised this movie got such high reviews from critics. I mean sure it's creepy but the story doesn't add up. But I guess creepy is enough for critics?

Unless I missed something?



The trick is not minding
I saw the movie and felt it was really kind of terrible really.

WARNING: "SPOILERS" spoilers below
The protagonist has the same emotional mood for the whole movie. Crying, whining and occasionally puking is her whole character really.

And when she finally changes emotions in the end and becomes psychotic, you just don't buy the transformation at all.

Also, there are things in the plot that do not make sense. Why do the two main American can characters keep sticking around, when all this crazy stuff keeps happening. They witness crazy suicides, one where the rest of the kill the man who fail's suicide and finish him off brutally. Is this enough to get them to want to leave. Nope. Then one by one, others start mysteriously disappearing. Does this get them to want to leave? No. Then the guy finds pubic hairs in his drink. Does this get them to want to leave? No. Etc.

So I didn't buy the characters wanting to stick around at all, and I didn't buy the psychotic transformation.

Also, they never explain what this mysterious culture is really about, or why they want to make this new stranger their new Queen or leader it seems. Or what made her so special that she should be compared to everyone else who was worthy of death. It doesn't seem to matter because the movie didn't seem to have a really story to tell.

Also, you could have cut out over half this movie and it wouldn't have made any difference to the so called pay off.

For example, they are mad at the one guy because he pees on their tree. But since they were killing the other Americans, I think they would have killed him anyway. I don't think he needed to pee on a tree to give them any extra motivation, since they were already killing everyone else. But that's just one example.

I am also really surprised this movie got such high reviews from critics. I mean sure it's creepy but the story doesn't add up. But I guess creepy is enough for critics?

Unless I missed something?
1. Florence Pughs character is in such an emotional state because she just experienced tragedy at the beginning of the film. Of course she’s going to be crying. Her breakdown at the end was really just a culmination of everything, including the issue with her boyfriend.

2. They stay because Josh wants to finish his thesis he is writing for his college course. I admit, it’s a weak reason.

3. Florence wins a contest to become the May Queen, which is only dealt a temporary position as far as I could gather. I forget the reason for the sacrifices, but it is explained in it.

4. Yes, they would have killed them anyways. They were all lured there to be sacrificed to begin with. Him peeing on the tree, and Josh sneaking into a forbidden area, were what ultimately lead to their deaths, which apparently wasn’t an issue for the sacrifice to be made. Their stupidity just hastened their fates.