MIDSOMMAR

US Sweden, 2019, 147 minutes, Colour.
Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter.
Directed by Ari Aster.

Writer-director, Ari Astor, had made a number of short films before his feature film debut, Hereditary. It was well acclaimed critically and had quite a following – although, not from this reviewer who appreciated the technique but found the last part of the horror-fantasy too absurd.

In Midsummer, Aster takes for granted a great deal of pagan ritual absurdity (we hope) and incorporates it into the narrative.

We are immediately introduced to Dani, effectively played by the rising star of The Little Drummer Girl, Lady Macbeth, Fighting with the Family, Florence Pugh. She is nervy, apprehensive about her sister who is bipolar, the safety of her parents. And, we almost immediately see that she has good reason. They are dead. Dani is very nervy, continually phoning her boyfriend for years, Christian (Jack Reynor). Christian’s friends are advising him to break with her because of her pressures on him. Christian and his friends, Josh (William Jackson Harper), Pelle (Wilhelm Blomgren) and the intrusively obnoxious Mark (Will Poulter) are all involved in thesis work and their Swede friend, Pelle, persuades them to visit his home community in Sweden and to celebrate Midsummer – interesting for their thesis research. Dani is of two minds but eventually goes.

This is quite a long film, almost 2 ½ hours, and is never in a hurry. We are invited to accompany the friends to Scandinavia, to the northern summer, experience the midnight sun, meets the community and spend some time with them. We anticipate that after the welcome, the experience for the friends will be most unwelcome. And so it is.

This is mid-summer, pagan Scandinavian rituals, some elders, many young women, fewer young men, some children, are all dressed in white, bright sunshine white, while the guests remain in their visiting clothes, not white. Their time there will be 10 days of festivities, many rituals, well-prepared meals at long tables, communal living in a vast dormitory with roof and walls covered in bright paintings with mythological touches. And there is dancing and, eventually, the Queen of the May.

While all this may seem attractive, even innocent, there are some ominous signs, especially tablets and drinks which lead to hallucinatory experiences.

Despite the bright sunlight, some of the characters in the community act in very creepy ways. Dani is well received and is encouraged to participate in the increasingly frantic dance of the young women to determine who will be the last one standing, Queen of the May. She is completely covered in flowers, presides at the meal, is reverenced. In the meantime, Christian begins to feel more alienated and becomes the focus of an elaborate sexual ritual.

The drama builds its tension – especially with the information that there are four phases of life to correspond with the seasons and at the end, at age 72, the only prospect for the members of the community is death, vividly dramatised. As is the ending, but even more alarmingly and vividly dramatised, ritual, sacrifice involving fire and a giant bear.

Because of its exotic settings, everything in the mid-summer sun, the film does remain in eerily in the memory.

1. Reputation? Horror film? In broad daylight?

2. The title, Scandinavian Midsummer, midnight Sun, the fields, the water? The buildings, dormitory and the interior paintings, the temple? The initial sequences in the United States? Overview, the interiors?

3. The musical score, the overtones of rituals, pagan rituals, songs? Chant?

4. The introduction to the characters, Dani, her nerves, phone calls, the absence of her sister, concern, her parents? Phoning Christian? Christian, the discussions with his friends? Mike and his interventions, wanting Christian to break with Dani? Her continued calls? The fire, her sister, the death of her parents? The overall effect on Dani, tensions, open to disturbance?

5. The men, their friendship, their studies, theses and topics? Discussions, on personal relationships? Mike and his insensitivity? The decision to go to Sweden, the discussions, Christian and his decision, including Dani, the ambiguity of her reactions, agreeing to go? On the plane, the views from the plane?

6. Pelle and his story of his community, the remote village, the personalities? His promise of celebrations? The trip in the countryside, the arrival, the immediate welcome? Each adapting to the situation, the drug and hallucinations, asleep in the hills? Market and the problem of the midnight sun?

7. Pelle, studying overseas, persuading his friends to come to his community? His role in the community? His contribution to the sinister atmosphere?

8. Midsummer, the pagan traditions, the celebrations, the enclosed community? The elders and their welcome, explanations? The white clothes? The women, the authorities, the many young women, the fewer young men, the children?

9. The introduction to the buildings, the isolated temple? The huge dormitory, the beds, the range of paintings in the themes? Mythologies?

10. The celebrations, the rituals, music and dancing, the dress, the wreaths?

11. The meals, lavish, the tables on the rows, the formalities? The ancient couple emerging, everybody differential, waiting for them, the celebration of the meal? The visitors and their not wearing white, yet their being welcomed, eating at the table, puzzles for them?

12. The elderly couple, going to the top of the cliff, throwing themselves over, the explanation of the four seasons of life, death at age 72? The man not dying, his face being battered? The reaction of the visitors? The acceptance of the community?

13. Mike and Josh, Josh’s character, his thesis and investigations, Christian and his change of attitude, his decision about his thesis topic, Josh feeling aggrieved? And then Josh, his being battered – by whom?

14. The dancing, the young women, Dani and her being invited to dance, the continued dancing, the frenzy, the women dropping out, the final group, Dani and the world, her being affected, hallucinations, bumping the final dances, her being crowned Queen of the May? The previous discussions about the Queen, the photos of the previous winners? Her being crowned, dressed in flowers, presiding at the meal?

15. Christian, his being accosted by the woman Elder, his being chosen to impregnate the girl, his reaction, the drugs, his observing Dani as the Queen, his being taken into the heart, the naked women, the sexual encounter, the aftermath, his running through the fields, naked? His collapse? His sitting in the chair, his being bound, paralysed but conscious?

16. The buildup to the ritual, the background of the selection of victims, the willing victims, the ritual of choice, the role of the Queen of the May?

17. The presence of the Bear, the initial comments, it becoming part of the ritual, the slaughter? The skin?

18. The ritual, Christian within the bearskin? The other victims? The fire, the being consumed, burnt alive?

19. The conclusion of the ritual, the pregnant woman and continuity, Dani remaining in the community – the significance of her final smile?