If Ari Aster is directing a film, expect psychological pain and grief to be a cornerstone of the plot. The same happens in Midsommar. If you have already seen Hereditary, you might find Midsommar somewhat similar. The presence of a cult or the occult is very strong in both stories. The big difference is that Hereditary is deeply rooted within a family. The darkness that resides in their home and lives is the focal point of the movie. In Midsommar, the entire setup is different. It is bright and sunny all the time in Sweden - the movie was perhaps shot during that climatic shift that happens every year, when nights are also like daytime, and this makes Midsommar creepingly different. The creepy feeling stems from the absolute lack of darkness. There is no dimly lit shot.
There are literally no nights in the movie apart from the first few minutes. The movie starts as darkly as you can imagine, thanks to Ari Aster's habit of portraying family secrets, taboos, cult worship, and the filth of the human mind across most of his creations. A slightly disturbed young lady kills her parents in their bedroom by asphyxiating them while they sleep, and she does the same to herself by hosing the car exhaust down her mouth by literally taping the hose to her face. I say this again, as this will make a huge difference to how you perceive Midsommar - if you have already seen Ari Aster's Hereditary or 'The Strange Thing About the Johnsons', this movie might not shock you. You might not understand why people on Instagram keep recommending it. Midsommar represents the director's leap to the other side of his own style of filmmaking, keeping every scene intentionally as brightly lit as possible. Still, the pagan influences are clearly visible.
Midsommar and Hereditary move away from witches and demons hiding in the basement. There are no closet surprises. Everything that is happening in the most traumatic manner is unfolding as a part of your regular life. Deeply connected by exploration of profound emotional trauma, both movies rely on hard-to-describe elements borrowed from the supernatural. The oddities you witness in these movies are more like the physical manifestations of what the protagonists are going through - this overwhelming agony that leads to isolation and takes them closer to the point of breaking down.
Both films clearly present pagan cults in the background, operating behind the scenes when the movie begins and grabbing the spotlight as the movie inches closer to its conclusion. Midsommar is outright weird because of the sun-kissed Hårga commune that seems to include only the most lovable people, always draped in white, and without any hint that every step they take is towards a predetermined and brutal destiny.
As always, there is no real body horror, as Aster seems to use his obsession with fatalism and people losing their ability to act rationally as the inner grief consumes them. From the small dollhouses of Hereditary to prophetic wall coverings in Midsommar, Ari creates plenty of content that makes it worth the watch, but Midsommar tests your patience a lot more - the first 30 minutes seem slow, especially with the Swedish maids banally running around or doing odd chores. Finally, both masterpieces conclude with a twisted sense of catharsis. A rather strange coincidence is scenes depicting grandfathers and grandmothers [ancestors and seniors] with full-body nudity.
One word of advice for anybody planning to catch 'The Strange Thing About the Johnsons' on YouTube - if you are someone who does need another instance that shakes up your confidence in relations or family, please stay away. The movie is not violent or graphic, but it takes you deep into the abyss of darkness - the depth of it in the human mind. It is as cruel as anything can be in terms of being psychologically shattered forever. This is not a horror movie. It is not a mind-bending concept. This is not Christopher Nolan at work. 'The Strange Thing About the Johnsons' eats away at you for some days after watching it...