Most horror movies fall flat because they simply just aren’t enough. Whether it’s gore, sensible plotlines or actual scary moments, horror movies are usually extremely hit or miss. So, how does Ari Aster follow up his highly acclaimed 2018 film, Hereditary?

Well, if you’re Aster, you make a weirder and more unsettling movie set in sunny Sweden.

Midsommar sets us up with Dani, a college student dealing with a disturbing update from her sister, who is battling depression and Bipolar Disorder. We get a taste of how amazing her relationship with Christian is. By amazing, I mean fantastically lame and kind of a jerk. His friends are no better- they’re each awful in their own respective way. Weird eyebrow kid from We’re The Millers plays typical wannabe-frat boy Mike, and Jackson Harper from The Good Place is basically playing Chidi again- this time, grad student version!

And to round up the boy’s crew is Pelle, the sensitive, artistic Swedish friend who has so politely and lovingly invited the boys to experience Midsommer, a solstice festival that his ancient commune, Hårga, is well known for.

Things our lovely characters don’t know: Dani will be joining them.

Things Dani doesn’t know: the boys hate her. Including her own boyfriend.

Things none of them know: they’re not coming back.

If you want to avoid spoilers, stop here and just know that Midsommer is not for weak stomachs. It’s gory enough to terrify you and distract you from the fact that you’re watching grown people dance around a pole in the middle of Sweden. It’s also unsettling enough where you’re left wondering what you just watched.

But it certainly is worth watching.

Ok, time for spoilers!

Aster is truly talented. First, let’s start off with the amazing cinematography splashed with such bright lighting. The beautiful all white garments of the cult- er, villagers? A visually appealing contrast against the dark architecture Aster is fond of using in his movies. The most vivid stand out piece in the movie is the strange but stunning, almost Kuberick-like yellow triangle set at the back of the compound. Midsommer is gorgeous, which makes it that much more disturbing.

What we see slowly unfolding is the madness of cults and how they draw you in. Dani and the boys are fascinated by what they see and the experience of a commune, until they realize the culture of this seemingly quaint little pagan community is a lot bloodier than what it appears to be.

A brutal sacrifice ritual in which literal faces are smashed off leaves the anthropologists shocked to their core, forcing an already vulnerable Dani to really start freaking out. From this point on, we see some interesting things start to happen.

Midsommar plays up pretty heavily on the idea that we need to accept cultures for what they are. After all, Dani and her crew of anthropologists were invited to experience the solstice festival for themselves and to study it. Is it really their place to judge and accuse them of being evil and immoral, when it has been their tradition for centuries to sacrifice elders?

But then, what about the ethics? If we all know right from wrong, are we obligated to stop the killings of others, even when it isn’t technically wrong (according to a culture)? Our anthropologists move on with studying the Hårga members, despite repeatedly disrespecting them.

One by one, the boys are ruined by the village as their personal flaws get the best of them. It’s interesting, really; in each way the men fail as decent human beings, it’s their undoing. Which is why honestly, it’s a little satisfying to see Christian finally get what he deserves.

I mean, not telling your girlfriend you’re going on a weeklong trip to Sweden is bad enough, but doing it with the same friends pushing you to dump her while she’s going through it? Cruel. And then he forgets her birthday? And has sex with someone else in the commune? Christian may be one of the worst movie boyfriends ever.

But, while the boys are slowly being punished one by one, perhaps for being outsiders that got too comfortable disrespecting the village’s historic traditions and values, Dani is embraced. In fact, we see something almost kind of touching; while the boys fail to connect to any commune members besides Pelle, Dani is welcomed into the kitchen, a symbol of not only the idea of home, but also of traditional feminism. Beyond the kitchen, she is invited to participate in their May Queen competition, where she gets high off of a weird root and water concoction that probably helps her stay on her feet and dance until she is crowned the last woman standing. She is crowned May Queen, and the commune’s women gather around her to celebrate their new sister.

The sisterhood of the commune even goes so far as to share emotions and physical feelings. When Christian is having sex with a young girl, we see older women share the intimate space and simulate sex with the young virgin. In fact, one of them even pushes Christian to stroke a little harder. It’s weird and disturbing to see, but these women are here to provide comfort and familiarity. The same happens when Dani catches the sex ritual; she cannot hide her pain and shock and starts screaming and howling. The sisters imitate her screams, almost as if to show that they too, feel her pain.

In fact, all of the villagers feel each other’s pain. We see strange scenes of them moving and screaming as if they were harmed when other villagers are killed. Again, it’s disturbing. How can this commune be so in tune with each other, and yet rely on sacrifice and killing to sustain their traditions and beliefs?

In the end, Dani becomes the village’s May Queen and ultimately, Christian’s executioner. In a stunning final scene, we see her mixed reaction to Christian’s timely death. It’s not what you would expect, but that’s classic Anaster for you.

Because, really, this isn’t a movie about the horror of losing people and becoming victims of a religious cult that sacrifices people on the low. It’s Dani’s redemption, her rebirth. We saw her in her darkest moment- the loss of her family, to the struggle that was finding the ‘queen’ in herself…even if it meant losing a couple people along the way.

But, where is the horror, you ask! It’s everywhere, really. It’s in the uncomfortable ghosts of Dani’s pasts. It’s in the awkward realizations that the boys are the strangers, and possibly the villains, in the Hårga’s commune. It’s in realizing that what is wrong may not be entirely wrong after all. The real horror in Midsommar isn’t about making you scream with jump scares and evil monsters. It’s about being horrified of what we don’t know, or can’t seem to understand. Most importantly, it’s about the fear and terror behind starting all over again.

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