Hereditary was easily one of my favorite horror films of the past few years. Unfortunately, Ari Aster’s follow-up left me a bit disappointed. First of all, the film is incredibly bizarre and there are plenty of moments where you’ll go “what the fu-” as you’re watching the film. It’s a film that a select niche audience would enjoy. General audiences… Not so much.
To his credit though, Aster sets up the tranquil and idyllic world really well. The cinematography, cheerful color palette, and rustic costume design will make you believe that this is a peaceful society. Yet their sadistic and reprehensible actions are a stark contrast to the peaceful appearance that they’re conveying. It’s a slow and progressive reveal that will continually make you uncomfortable as the film goes on.
The problem is that the film is strangely predictable. Midsommar blatantly foreshadows everything that’s going to happen in the film through the folk art. Of course, you won’t know what it means at the time but people are perceptive. Audiences will figure out when these moments will occur. As a result, the film lacks any surprises that’ll scare and shock you. Midsommar’s horror comes from the disturbing images of gore. In a weird way, Midsommar is like an artistic version of Saw.
Another problem with the film comes from a lack of depth with the main characters. The characters themselves are one-dimensional. Not to mention, these characters progress for the worse as the film goes on. It’s a byproduct of the story, but this film doesn’t give you any reasons to care about these characters. So when things start to go bad for them, you honestly don’t care.
Overall, Midsommar is a dull, bizarre, and slow sophomore effort for Ari Aster. He’s still a talented director but the storytelling aspect of his game regressed a bit with this film. There’s just a lot of story and character issues with this film. On the bright side though, at least the film is beautiful…
Movie Rating: 2/5 atoms
Video
Midsommar hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.00:1 aspect ratio. Since 90% of the film takes place during the day, the brightness of the film is naturally high, and as a result, bright areas pop from the screen. Due to the film’s use of natural lighting and linear contrast, the picture looks a bit flat. The black levels are mostly a dark gray, but the shadows do become a deep black during the film’s few dark scenes. Like the brightness, the film also features a natural color saturation too. Thankfully, the detail clarity is superb in this release. From the beautiful architecture to the amazing costumes, you can see every tiny detail on the picture. Overall, this is a great video transfer.
Video Rating: 4/5 atoms
Audio
Midsommar hits Blu-ray with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. As it is with most horror Blu-rays, the audio mix is always the highlight of therelease. That trend continues with Midsommar’s Blu-ray release. There aren’t a ton of dynamic audio pans, but when it shows up, it’s memorable and noticeable. Instead, the mix focuses on the accurate placement of sound effects in order to immerse the viewer. This includes the usage of off-camera dialogue from the surround channels. This mix will put your head on a swivel. Not to mention, the atmospheric effects fill up the entire soundstage too. The audio mix also does a great job mixing in the music with the rest of the audio. It’s crisp, loud, and complements the immersive audio well. Surprisingly, there is a lot of LFE usage as well. The mix uses heavy bass to add weight to the suspense and tension of a scene. Overall, this is a fantastic audio mix.
Audio Rating: 5/5 atoms
Special Features
Midsommar has the following special features on the Blu-ray disc:
- Let the Festivities Begin: Manifesting Midsommar
- Bear in a Cage Promo
Clearly from the list above, there isn’t a lot of bonus features in this release. “Manifesting Midsommar” covers a wide array of subjects revolving around the making of the film. However, the featurette only covers the surface of the subject matter. It doesn’t go too in-depth. Much like the film, “Bear in a Cage” is a weird commercial promoting the bear in a cage figure from A24’s website.
Special Features Rating: 2.5/5 atoms
Overall, Midsommar is a disappointing follow up to Hereditary. The film is all over the place and unbelievably predictable. Despite the high brightness, the picture looks clean. The audio is a fantastic immersive mix which pulls you into this creepy world. Unfortunately, the special features are a bit lacking.
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.
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