Ari Aster's MIDSOMMAR (2019)

I think it’s hasty to call Connie and Simon a couple of red shirts.

There’s reading to be done about how they’re classified as outsiders while the others aren’t; the way Pelle’s brother is punished for bringing them home (Ulf? I can’t remember his name).

There’s reading to be done about how they’re classified as outsiders while the others aren’t;

one that neatly elides how their skin color is different from everyone else's, you mean?

the lack of acknowledgment of race in this film is its biggest failing imo. Still great, but it does stick in my craw.

on a rewatch i did notice how often shots are set up in such a way that something offputting or disturbing is going on in the background and how often it’s just...passed over...by the characters or not noticed at all. “So are we gonna acknowledge the bear?” “It’s a bear.”

this handily ties into the main themes but does a nice job on it’s own of providing an unusual means for generating tension not only within the narrative but within shot compositions.

/There’s reading to be done about how they’re classified as outsiders while the others aren’t;/

one that neatly elides how their skin color is different from everyone else's, you mean?

the lack of acknowledgment of race in this film is its biggest failing imo. Still great, but it does stick in my craw.

horror movies are rituals

A brilliant observation from "Cabin in the Woods."

another great movie that aggressively telegraphs every plot point!

There’s reading to be done about how they’re classified as outsiders while the others aren’t;

one that neatly elides how their skin color is different from everyone else's, you mean?

the lack of acknowledgment of race in this film is its biggest failing imo. Still great, but it does stick in my craw.

I was under the impression that everyone but Dani was intended to die from the beginning; they needed five outsiders for their sacrifice. I agree there's a racial element to how the cult does its recruiting (Dani is welcomed into the family in part because she looks very Nordic; Christian, who has reddish-blond hair, gets used for breeding stock before being killed; no one else is used for breeding, although the movie makes a big point of how the cult needs new blood), but I assumed this was something we were supposed to figure out.

technically Christian's death was 50/50 and left up to Dani

That's true, so I guess the order of the deaths is slightly premeditated; it makes sense they would want to keep Christian till the end as their optional sacrifice since they've decided he's acceptable breeding stock.

nearly everyone else does something to trigger their death, right? wanting to leave early, pissing on the sacred tree, taking pictures of their book, etc

Wanting to leave early? Or ruining their whole sacred ritual thing by expressing their shock, outrage, and horror by screaming obscenities and insults? I wasn't completely unsympathetic to the perspective of the commune/cult until the final act of the movie where it became clear what their intent all along was. On top of everything else about the movie, I enjoyed the anthropological interest that went into the creation of the commune.

I mean didja expect they were all going to go to this mysterious Swedish festival nobody else in teh world had heard about it and it was all fun and everybody played games and had punch and then went home and then on the way home there was a wolf in the car?

― papa stank (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 January 2020 21:26 (eleven minutes ago) link

"this fairytale was so predictable!"

― Οὖτις, Monday, January 13, 2020 4:51 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

it's funny how ppl in film threads try to use logic to justify liking shitty movies

OneEyeOpen makes an otm post about how the entire movie had zero suspense or surprise or tension (and max 2 scares), and yall are like "it's a horror movie, SPOILER ALERT people get killed"

like oh, now that you put it that way, it's actually good that this bored the shit out of me

it was maximally tense even though we knew sorta what was going to happen bc of the plotting and imagery. everything feels kind of out of control at all times

however if you just wanna yell at us for enjoying a movie that bored you, go off

You're being disingenuous af in suggesting that most of us agreed with OEO's thesis but suggested these were features, not bugs. Most of us disagreed with most of the criticisms in their post outright, and were pointing out having an idea of what would happen in the movie didn't prevent it from being tense, suspenseful, disorienting, or thrilling.

For fucks sake, wanting big surprises and constant rug pulls is how we got the M Night era of horror.

Xxpost

BradNelson otm throughout this thread, basically

there's only one person here trying to apply mathematical principles to the enjoyment of film imo

zero suspense or surprise or tension

don't feel any of these are required to make a film interesting or worth watching

would argue that the movie has plenty of tension though, not so much based on "what is going to happen!?" but more on the "what the fuck is going on" with the particulars of things like the drugged tea and a bear and people running away screaming in the background or heads getting smashed in with a hammer etc.

im like the opposite of brad in that I loved hereditary and it set my expectations way too high for this

sorry for being mean. here are some things i liked about this movie:
-casting of the scandinavians (they looked genuinely inbred)
-score
-cinematography
-costume/set design
-humour (should have been more of it though)

I think Hereditary was genuinely more WTF and unexplained weirdness than Midsommar (certainly more Lovecraftian). Midsommar probably had the better/more interesting design/visuals, though this may simply be a function of USA domesticity v. Swedish folk cult.

Hereditary was a horror movie disguised as a family drama, and Midsommar is a family drama disguised as a horror movie

I'd agree with that but add that Hereditary was a good movie and Midsommar was a cult movie.

Midsommar is a family drama transcendental comedy* disguised as a horror movie

*quite like this term. applies as well to...ooh, Toni Erdmann? some von Trier?

Midsommar’s wikipedia plot summary made more sense and was easier to follow than Hereditary’s

just watched this and i felt i saw a bjork music video fleshed out for 2+ hours.

https://a24auctions.com/auctions/midsommar-harga-collectibles/

"put your disgusting dick away!"

this is one of the most idiotic films I've seen

in that case, will I watch this a third time? maybe

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 19:57

someone watched it three times. The idea that a ritual could occur every 90 years is the stupidest thing I've encountered in any stupid movie script.

wait til u hear about the "bicentennial"

I resist posting on popular movie threads about terrible films that people have enjoyed, for whatever reason. Fine, who cares... but this film is just enragingly stupid in every way.

You don't get it, man, it's a horror movie. It's supposed to be dumb.

good movie

I enjoyed it

but jed_ said you're wrong

And I'll never get over the shame of my rongness

It wasn't great but it was very good. Sorta like It Follows. It doesn't hold up to close scrutiny but I really liked the thrills.

The idea that a ritual could occur every 90 years is the stupidest thing I've encountered in any stupid movie script.

?????????????????????????????

EVER??

not even the stupidest thing about this great movie

The idea that a ritual could occur every 90 years is the stupidest thing I've encountered

I bet you hated Chrono Trigger then

would absolutely watch Ari Aster's Chrono Trigger

I know a ritual that occurs only once every 90 years YOU HAVING SEX ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

but jed_ said you're wrong

― muntjac wagner (Neanderthal),

I did?

What a bizarre gripe to have (xps to jed_)

the most nonsensical plot point of all time will always be the plot to Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd

I mean...fucking Signs...

dicks out for Halley's Comet 2061

clearly none of you have seen the life of david gale