7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.3 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
A young woman reluctantly joins her boyfriend on a summer trip to a Swedish commune where things quickly go awry.
Starring: Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Jack Reynor, Julia RagnarssonHorror | 100% |
Psychological thriller | 38% |
Drama | 35% |
Surreal | 26% |
Nature | 9% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Midsommar will now be at least the third time in one of my reviews where I will have referenced Harvest Home, one time actor Thomas Tryon's follow up to his massive bestseller The Other, in terms of how similar at least some of its plot elements are to whatever film is currently being discussed. The "Google machine" managed to dig up both my Children of the Corn Blu-ray review and my Deep in the Darkness Blu-ray review where I previously mentioned Harvest Home, and there may even be a couple of other reviews out there in the nooks and crannies of the internet where I brought it up, because Tryon's basic setup of "outsiders" suddenly interloping into a society that is decidedly on the pagan side of the things has been utilized countless times, frankly both before and after Tryon's novel (and its later made for television adaptation) ever saw the light of day. That said, in some ways the connections between Harvest Home and Midsommar are even more pronounced and noticeable than with regard to the two other films linked to above, this despite the fact that Harvest Home takes place in the American Northeast, and most of Midsommar takes place in Sweden, perhaps suggesting that atavistic tendencies don't really observe "traditional" boundaries (no pun intended).
Midsommar is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. Digitally captured with Panavision Millennium DXL2 cameras, at native resolutions of up to 8K, and then finished at a 4K DI (all of this data courtesy of the IMDb), Midsommar is a very striking looking presentation in high definition. The sun drenched environment of much of the film plays nicely against the darker subtext of what's actually going on, and Aster and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski offer some beautifully framed vistas that often offer substantial depth of field. It looked to me like brightness and/or contrast had been intentionally tweaked, giving a lot of the presentation a slightly dewy, effulgent quality which tends to support some of the more "drugged out" elements. Those elements often feature noticeably tweaked imagery where detail levels can slightly falter (see screenshot 1). The palette often tends to emphasize neutral tones, and even when more "substantial" hues are offered, they can tend to be in the pastel range, as in several of the blue tones that are prevalent. That said, when there are pops of color, as in some of the later imagery surrounding the announcement of the "May Queen", things look incredibly vivid. Some of the interior footage is not as detailed, including a sequence early on involving Dani's family before the focal group gets to Sweden.
Midsommar features a nicely expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that develops a nice sense of foreboding even when presenting supposedly "mundane" elements like some ambient environmental effects in many of the outdoor scenes at the "commune" where the focal group ends up. Large groups of people also support some nice surround activity at times, and the film's interesting score by Bobby Krlic also wafts through the side and rear channels. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout in this problem free track.
Anyone who likes Midsommar and who hasn't yet read it is encouraged to seek out Tryon's Harvest Home, and most who do so will likely see some of the connective threads that I did, including (but not limited to) pagan rituals surrounding both mortality and fertility, as well as perhaps more specifically one "helpless" character at the end whose interaction with those aforementioned pagans doesn't exactly lead to happily ever after. Midsommar is at least passingly effective as a mood piece if not as an outright horror masterpiece, but that said some of the imagery is both hypnotic and disturbing. Technical merits are solid, and with caveats noted, Midsommar comes Recommended.
Director's Cut | Collector's Edition
2019
Director's Cut | Collector's Edition
2019
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