With HEREDITARY, writer/director Ari Aster brilliantly took on the horrors of mental illness and family with wicked results. And now he is back with something equally strange, beautiful, funny and downright f*cked up. This is MIDSOMMAR and it's one of the best and most provocative thrillers of the year. The film features Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as a troubled couple who end up taking a trip with their friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to visit his family in Sweden for a mid-summer festival. However, once they arrive, the family and their bizarre ways bring the guests to a brutal and dark awakening. It’s a brilliant work that is haunting, odd, disturbed and weirdly wonderful. After this and Aster's previous feature, he is easily becoming one of my current favorite genre artists.
Sometimes when you meet someone in person, they surpass your expectations of what they’d be like. Ari Aster is one of those people. He is sensitive, funny, and genuine. Sitting down with both he and Jack Reynor – who was equally fantastic to speak to – I found the director to be wonderfully kind and so very good natured. It's hard to imagine these dark and twisted films coming from him. He discussed facing tragic situations in his art, and how it colors his features. As well, Reynor – who is excellent in the film – discussed what attracted him to the role, and how difficult and revealing one particular moment in the film was to take on.
Next up we spoke to the friends who join the couple on their nightmarish summer adventure. And like both Ari and Jack, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper and Vilhelm Blomgren were all terrific to sit down and have a chat with. Having had the pleasure of speaking to Poulter before, it was really nice to sit with these three as they discussed the challenges of working on the film – which included a few elements of nature that weren’t terribly welcoming. The three actors add a perfect layer to this summertime horror, and frankly, it’s the kind of story that will stay with you long after summer ends. I loved MIDSOMMAR in all it's strange and grotesque beauty. If you are looking for a perfect summer desent into darkness, have I got a film for you.