Review: Midsommar (UK Cert 18)

Ari Aster's second film (after the gutwrenching Hereditary) ventures into Wicker Man territory with a nasty but guiltily pleasurable folk horror. 

Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian's (Jack Reynor) relationship is foundering, but- just as Christian gets the nerve to end it- Dani suffers a horrific family tragedy. Lost and grieving, Dani goes with Christian and two of his friends- Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter)- to Sweden, along with their friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) for his home village's once-in-a-lifetime midsummer festival. But what should be a summer of fun soon descends into a nightmare as the festivities reveal a darker motive...

This isn't a traditional horror movie. There are several shocking moments of gore and intense violence, but if you're looking for a more jump-scary film, this might not be for you. The film is also slow, deliberate, and takes a long time to get going (which sounds like a criticism, but it isn't). We spend a long time with the characters before they get transplanted into Sweden, which is good- it establishes the characters effectively so, when they do get to Pelle's village and things really start to kick off, the audience has got a sense of who they are and- more crucially- what they may do. 

Florence Pugh's performance is visceral, authentic, and intense. She bears the emotional heavy lifting of the piece, if you will, and is utterly compelling. As tragedy piles on tragedy, she is undoubtedly the one character you're meant to root for and her emotional arc (whilst somewhat predictable) is still satisfying. By the utterly batshit bonkers finale (which again, sounds like a criticism but isn't), Dani isn't the same girl who entered the village at the start and you can't help but have a little twinge of pleasure seeing her change. I believe the word I'm looking for is schadenfreude...

Christian could easily have just come across as an unfeeling douchebag, so it's to Reynor's credit that the character isn't just an absolute tool (which could easily have been the case). True, he's emotionally distant and there are times you wonder how the hell this relationship ever got as far as it did (it's telling that there's no scenes of intimacy between the two; not even a kiss). But in a hamfisted and desultory way, he's trying to be there for Dani. It's just not enough. Again, there's a perverse kind of pleasure seeing what happens to Christian: even if it does involve one of the most bizarre and- frankly- unerotic sex scenes I've seen in a while.

Will Poulter plays Mark as an abrasive asshole who totally disrespects the village, and does it well; such is the performance that you're just waiting for Mark to get his comeuppance (which, of course, does come). If you're used to seeing William Jackson Harper as the nervy Chidi in the frankly brilliant The Good Place, you'll see a different side to him here: Josh is much more laidback, although even he can't resist crossing some lines (for which he duly pays the price). Blomgren's nice-guy Pelle is a lovely contrast to the Americans and never comes off as creepy or deranged. He also seems to genuinely care for Dani, although there's never a hint of impropriety. Whilst the outsiders see barbarity in the festival, he sees it as natural, what they do. There's also some strong performances by Henrik Norlén and Gunnel Fred as village elders Ulf and Siv, who lead the festivities. 

The cinematography by Pawel Pogorzelski is sublime. The village and its environs look beautiful and it's interesting to have events that (in traditional horror) would take place in dark places out in the bright sunshine. The script also does something that I like; when the villagers are speaking Swedish to one another, it's not subtitled. We, like the outside characters, are left to intuit what's being said. 

I think I've said more than once on the blog that The Wicker Man (1973) is one of my favourite films, and there's a definite vibe of that film in Midsommar. Outsiders to an otherwise insular community who have their own ways of doing things which seem unusual to those not from there, charismatic leaders, seductive maidens, and a striking ending where things go up in flames... but Midsommar has a style of its own and isn't just a pale rip-off of a superior film. Yes, there are moments where the plot gets predictable but that doesn't really matter as the performances carry those moments. 

A cerebral and visceral horror film, perfect for Halloween. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Macbeth (UK Cert 15)

In the UK especially, Macbeth is often the first exposure schoolchildren get to Shakespeare (as it's often used as a set text for school exams). The story is well known: Macbeth gets supernatural premonition of greatness, gets egged on by his ambitious wife, murders the king and then it all goes to pot. On film, the seminal version of 'the Scottish Play' is generally considered to be the dark and disturbing 1971 version directed by Roman Polanski. Here, Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) directs a bloody, bold and resolute re-telling of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays.

Michael Fassbender is the titular thane and he's damn good at portraying what is a complex character on paper but can often be written off as a crazed tyrant. Some of the dialogue is spoken as internal monologue as Fassbender broods upon the actions he's committed and plans to commit. Marion Cotillard is very impressive as Lady Macbeth, another complex character often boiled down. There's a scene that's been added at the beginning which can go to explain the mental state of the two characters- plus also gives weight to one of the big questions academics always ask about the play. Lady Macbeth's descent from ambitious bitch to madwoman is cannily played and Kurzel makes a canny directorial decision in just focusing on Cotillard's face whilst she delivers the 'sleepwalking' lines. It's a potent performance.

The rest of the cast are similarly strong. Happily, there's not an actor in the cast that speaks the words but doesn't know what they're actually saying; they all speak the Shakespearean language trippingly off the tongue. Paddy Considine is a solid presence as the ill-fated Banquo whilst Sean Harris gives a sterling turn as the avenging Macduff whilst David Thewlis makes an all-too brief appearance as Duncan. 

It's a brutal story told brutally. The opening battle scene spares nothing in the blood and guts state and the murder of Duncan is similarly unsparing. Macbeth does bad things and they are shown in unflinching detail (the dispatching of Lady Macduff and her children is particularly powerful). However, the film isn't perfect:  Kurzel employs the jerky camera movements which make me feel a bit seasick (quite annoying) and, sadly due to the virtue of necessity, some of the best pieces of verse/text are excised. The famous 'double double toil and trouble' witches scene is right out- in fact the witches get particularly shortchanged- and the arguments between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth before and after Duncan's murder get completely filleted. What's left is a taut telling of the main story but there's not a word or syllable wasted. 

In summary, it's worth seeing for the performances of Fassbender and Cotillard and some of the brooding cinematography (hats off to Adam Arkapaw), but by no means could this be considered a definitive version of the play.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tez