Midsommar (2019) - review & mini analysis

One of the most iconic modern pieces of horror and probably the most popular folk horror film of all time, A24's hit Midsommar brings a fresh take to the horror genre and the subgenres of folk horror and occult activity. Director Ari Aster always has a purpose and endless layers of deeper hints and meanings in every single one of his films that make them almost an instant favorite to me. Aster has previously directed the hit Hereditary (2018), Beau is Afraid (2023) and Death of a Unicorn (2025) which all fall into different sub-genres of horror like psychological horror and horror comedy. This film however, launched Aster into the eyes of the mainstream and opened up a new door to welcome new horror fans into the community.

A24'S Midsommar Theatrical release poster (2019)

Aster always provides incredible commentary on his projects and this one in particular is my favorite of his. Aster describes the film in an interview as a break-up story, and I think that's an insanely powerful way to watch the movie and feel the story. I'll admit, when I was going through a pretty bad break-up, this film helped me get from the really sad stage to the angry and rage stage which was a movement I needed to get through and this film helped me move there.

Midsommar is based on the Norwegian traditions of the same holiday welcoming the season of summer and preparing for harvest in the next season. It centers around a bunch of college students who plan to go to Sweden to observe the traditions of their friend's commune. The commune, or cult rather, is called the Harga and their traditions of Midsommar are different than most other commune's. This group of friends is guided through the celebration by their friend Pelle and one for the group members, Christian, brings along his girlfriend Dani. Their relationship is the central focus of the film and the film outlines the evolution of their break-up and how Dani goes from being completely emotionally dependent on Christian and can't even fathom loosing him to her being angry and grateful at him for all the things he's done to wrong her. Christian has all but lost any compassion for Dani even right from the first scene in the film so watching their clunky and un-loving dialogue and interaction throughout the rest of the film is cringey and makes us feel uncomfortable as an audience member which is how it's supposed to feel!

Aster writes a large portion of his films himself and one detail I love pointing out to people is how Christian and Dani's conversations typically revolve around two different points of view. Dani often speaks on how she impacts Christian through talking about herself while Christian's dialogue with Dani often only reflects on him and how she makes him feel which I think is an interesting detail to note and also lets you know I've watched this film way too many times!

The film is visually stunning as well and that subverts the expectation that horror films need to be dark and creepy in order to be good and considered scary but this film almost wholly takes place during the day time and during the time of year when Sweden receives nearly 20 hours of daylight. Apart from 1 or two scenes, we have full daylight in the story. The colors also have a great significance to the story but without giving too much away and stealing too much of the fun of multiple re-watches of the film, I'll just highlight the fact that color is the film's way of communicating was words don't. Yellow is a very prominent color in this film along with bright sky blue and white, all colors that we don't typically see in horror films.

The casting is another huge huge win for Aster and the Midsommar team as they have the incomparable Florence Pugh as our leading woman Dani and I love Florence Pugh so much and I think she needs to be in so many more horror and mystery films. The way she cries in Midsommar gives me chills and I love how unafraid she is to bring her emotions right to the edge and be so visceral and raw with them. I know I cried a lot when I was going through my break-up and it was probably identical to one of Dani's collapse on the ground in fetal position crying scenes and I feel connected to Dani on that really emotional and gutteral level of feeling like you are loosing a part of yourself when you loose a girlfriend/boyfriend/partner and I think that makes Dani a really interesting character considering how the film ends and watching her journey to that point on such a deep level is crazy. The other casting hits, not that there's a single miss, is Will Poulter as Mark. Mark's a grade A asshole not only to Dani but to the Harga and their traditions. He's so ignorant and douchey and Will Poulter does such a great job at making him unlike able but its still shocking when he gets what he deserves. William Jackson Harper is also so incredibly fantastic in this film in his role as Josh who is hellbent on writing his master's thesis on the traditions of the Harga commune and their relation to Midssomar traditions.

The costumes are incredible with each person's midsommar garb being embroidered with symbols and characters from the ancient language of their cult and other cultures like it and the designs and colors all being tailored to each person's unique circumstances and position in the cult. The younger women have more simple dresses and embroidery representing their status within the cycle of life the Harga discuss in their traditions. Pelle tells the group that the Harga see life in relation to seasons. Spring is when everything blooms and life is born and this stage is anyone in the Harga from birth-18 years old, Summer is the prime time to work and be outside and this is ages 18-36, Fall is when things begin to wither and become slower and less alive than the summer and spring months and this is ages 36-54, and finally Winter is when things die and decompose and this is ages 54-72. You may notice that it's odd to have that hard stop at 72 and not say " ages 54 until death" and that's part of what the Harga uses in their farming rituals that we later discover towards the end of the film.

This has been a really odd hybrid post of a review and analysis and I hope it is all interesting and I hope you can see how incredibly detailed these films by Ari Aster really are and that each time I personally watch the film (I think I just passed 20 times re-watched) I find something new either visually or story wise that I like to pick apart and I've mentioned this YouTube channel before in my review for the VVitch (2015) but the YouTube Channel Novum, makes incredibly detailed and well-researched analysis videos on these types of films that I love to watch and cam't recommend enough if you also enjoy these films and want to pick up on a new detail here and there or learn about a new topic you may have an interest in. Some of the videos are longer (which I personally enjoy a lot) and I'm talking 7-8 hours long but they're so worth watching. Novum has split them up into chapters by subject as well to make it easier to digest and if you're like me, you need something on in the background while you work or clean, these are perfect videos to put on in the background and just listen to or watch as well. There are visuals but the topics aren't always visually reliant themselves so you can look away and still be fed the information and research that this guy has taken months to do!

I can't express my love for this film and how much it impacts so many people! I love that it focuses on break-ups and the emotional journey they are and doesn't undermine that fact either. It validates the sadness, worry, anger and loneliness of it all which so many pieces of media just don't do. It also has the female lead be emotionally and motivational complex that's also so unique and especially so for horror films of this kind to do. It perverts the expectations that horror films need to be dark and gloomy in order to be scary and it does so in a very subliminal way that's shocking and effective.

I give Midsommar a 10/10 overall, shocker!