Feb 29

Feb 29 Midsommar (2019)

Ari Aster writes and directs Midsommar, a methodically idiosyncratic story that follows a group of twenty-something Americans as they visit a Swedish community for a nine-day ritual held once every ninety years. Turgid and glacially paced, the film often feels impenetrable, from the illogical actions of its main characters, through the motivations of the Hårga people, to the intentions of the writer-director. Florence Pugh, who portrays main character Dani, a young woman who recently lost her parents and sister to murder-suicide, does about the best job she can with what she’s been given to do, but Midsommar, laden with horror-movie tropes while lacking comparable impact, fails to satisfy.