Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Midsommar Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 1, 2020

Note: A24 distributor Lionsgate films released Midsommar on Blu-ray in 2019. This review repeats relevant sections of my review of that original release. Before the repeated content, however, I'll cut to the chase and discuss the added footage unique to this new Director's Cut. I already have invited brickbats from this film's many fans by not thinking that Midsommar is the outright classic that so many of them do, and I'll probably only invite more by stating that for me personally the added elements, many of which feature Christian, are interesting in an okay way, but hardly what I'd call revelatory in either upping the angst quotient or even adding that much to any perceived metaphysical aspects. With that out of the way, the following repeats my original thoughts on the film.

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).

My hunch is that very few coming to this review have either read Harvest Home or seen its made for television adaptation, but there are at least a couple of other analogs to Midsommar which may be more familiar, albeit kind of odd when lumped together. Both The Wicker Man and maybe even (to joke slightly about one of the film's plot points) Logan's Run share at least some elements with this film. Perhaps for these reasons, and understandably only for those who are acquainted with some of these other properties, parts of Midsommar will seem like retreads, though it's to writer and director Ari Aster's credit that the film still manages to deliver some nice chills along the way.

Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) is recovering from a family tragedy which in a weird kind of way may remind some people of Aster’s previous horror entry Hereditary. With a roiling relationship with boyfriend Christian* Hughes (Jack Reynor) also entering the mix, things seem to be avoiding a major meltdown when an unexpected invitation to Sweden arrives. Friends of both Dani and Christian have been asked by their friend, a Swedish guy named Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgrem) to accompany him on a visit to his ancestral homeland, where a rare religious ceremony is going to take place. Are the little hairs on the back of your neck standing up yet?

Probably needless to say, the group heads off to Scandinavia, where they ultimately meet up with what can only be described as a cult has assembled for some kind of ritual. There are other visitors there, and the general feeling is one of awkwardness but acceptance, as Dani, Christian and their cohorts are encouraged to imbibe some psychedelics (of the organic variety), something that adds to the unreal aspect of one of the first outright dips into “horror film” territory.

And it’s frankly at this moment that some audience members may be rolling their eyes, not necessarily with regard to what happens, but with regard to what happens next. Without posting any outright spoilers, if you suddenly witnessed a truly horrific incident involving a group to which you weren’t directly linked, would you stick around for more, or would you get the heck out of Dodge (or whatever the Swedish equivalent is)? Of course, this being a horror film, while at least one visitor does decide to leave, the focal characters stay put, with the obvious subtext that mayhem is only just beginning.

Somewhat like Hereditary, and perhaps arguably even more like The Wicker Man, Midsommar depends on a steadily growing feeling of unease to establish its supposed "horror movie" ambience, more so than delivering a series of gorey imagery (though Midsommar does in fact feature some of that as well). While some of the underlying plot dynamics of the film are going to be nothing new for some, the film does a rather effective job of developing an oppressive, almost paranoiac, mood that helps to elevate some of its sillier aspects, including the fact that Dani spends most of the film either hysterical or in a stupor (and, frankly, at times in a hysterical stupor). Aster seems to want to hint at ambiguity at times without ever totally going there (especially in terms of some of the characters having been "under the influence" when certain events occur), and in fact if the film fails to register for some, it may be because it's actually too literal for its own good.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf found the film to be a bit more lacking than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

*(Minor potential spoiler alert, at least for those who can read between the lines and are hereby forewarned against continuing:) Again without posting any outright spoilers, the choice of this character's name in terms of what happens to him (especially within the context of interaction with supposed pagan types) may strike some as being a bit too on the nose.

Midsommar Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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, and I noticed no quality fluctuations of any major import between the "new, improved" material and the original presentation. 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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This edition of Midsommar features the same nicely expressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that accompanied the original version. The track 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. Optional English subtitles are available.

Midsommar Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The original Blu-ray release of Midsommar didn't offer a whale of a lot of supplements, but this Director's Cut has absolutely no on disc bonus material, and in fact there's not even a standard Main Menu (see screenshot 10 for what greets the viewer once the disc has booted). That said, despite the absolute lack of on disc supplements, I'm scoring this at 2.0 for supplements because of the rather luxe packaging, which I'm sure will appeal to many of the film's ardent fans. Both the slipbox and hardback DigiBook are clothbound, with a beautifully crosshatched texture. The book has reproductions of some of the "folk art" seen in the film. The only downside for some potential collectors is the size of the packaging, with the slipbox being approximately 9 1/4" tall by 6 1/8" wide by 1/2" deep.

Midsommar Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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. This Director's Cut adds considerable new content (almost a half hour), but I personally found much of the material to be kind of tangential to the main story. Technical merits are solid, and the packaging of this Director's Cut is very beautiful, though the release is also rather spendy. With caveats noted, and for diehard fans in particular, this edition of Midsommar comes Recommended.