Movie Review: MIDSOMMAR

As was the case with Jordan Peele after the success of GET OUT, when I said that his follow-up effort would prove whether or not he was for real or just got lucky (and I need not have worried, as US is brilliant, even better than GET OUT), I felt that Ari Aster’s sophomore effort after his incredible HEREDITARY last year would either cement his place as one of the major new creative voices in Horror or remove him from such consideration. Again, I need not have been concerned. MIDSOMMAR is another Oscar-worthy film (that won’t get any recognition from the Academy) containing Oscar-worthy performances (that won’t get any recognition from the Academy). It’s just as good as HEREDITARY and will appeal to the same audience. Its slow-burn approach will be off-putting to the lowest common denominator of Horror fandom. Teenyboppers who love jump scares will likely despise it. This is a thinking person’s Horror movie. It’s sophisticated and smart. It’s also unflinchingly brutal. The emphasis is just as much on the horror as it is on smarts.

I don’t want to give anything away, and it would be hard to say a lot without doing so, beyond acknowledging that the plot is straightforward. The surprises are little ones, but perhaps all the more shocking because of it. You know going in that the train is gonna crash, but the specific ways in which it goes off the rails will jar the fillings in your teeth. I loved MIDSOMMAR. If you enjoy intelligent, polished Horror, you will too.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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