Midsommar Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
An aptly effed-up follow-up to Hereditary.
Ari Aster's follow-up to last year's art-house horror smash Hereditary is out now, and though the consensus seems to be that it doesn't quite reach the jaw-dropping heights of his debut, Midsommar is nevertheless a thoroughly worthy successor.
That Aster has delivered another scintillating horror-drama so quickly is, honestly, miraculous, cementing him as a filmmaker who comfortably avoids the sophomore slump while carving out a fine niche for himself as a distinctive genre voice.
He's aided of course by a top-drawer cast once again, with an awards-worthy central performance that, like Toni Collette's work in Hereditary, is sure to be totally ignored by the Academy.
While more mainstream audiences are sure to be thoroughly deterred by the film's slow pace and an alienating tone that makes even Hereditary seem conventional by comparison, discerning horror fans are sure to get a massive kick out of it, flaws and all.
One can only imagine what Aster might be cooking up for the three-peat...