Top10 Reasons Midsommar Is the Scariest Movie of 2019

Script written by Nick Spake

Top 10 Reasons Midsommar Is the Scariest Movie of 2019

We’ve heard of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but this film is a midsummer nightmare. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 Reasons Midsommar is the Scariest Movie of 2019.

For this list, we’re taking a look at what critics and audiences are saying about Ari Aster’s latest feat of folk horror.

#10: It’s F***ed Up, But in a “Good Way”

With his feature directorial debut “Hereditary,” Ari Aster delivered an instant horror classic that had audiences asking “WTF” for all the right reasons. Aster’s follow-up film is another descent into beautiful insanity that’ll leave you traumatized, revolted, and horrified, yet unable to look away. Following an advance screening, several viewers took to Twitter to describe the madness they’d watched unfold. Screen Invasion’s Matt Hardeman wrote that the film was “truly something special and it will also f**k up your entire life.” Bloody Disgusting’s Trace Thurman shared a similar sentiment, calling it “a mind-f**k of the highest order.” Chris Evangelista of SlashFilm was especially enthralled by the film’s ending, writing, “As ‘Midsommar’ draws to an alarming, eye-popping conclusion, you’ll be left stunned.”

#9: Its Effective Use of Blood & Gore

In recent years, the horror genre has been moving away from the “torture porn” tactics that aimed to shock audiences without offering any substance. With “Midsommar,” Aster reminds audiences that extreme violence can actually serve a purpose in establishing mood and telling a story. In Tim Grierson’s review for Screen Daily, he wrote that “‘Midsommar’ explodes with blood and gore — as well as ideas about our primal nature and the universe’s startling ability to mete out justice, no matter how unexpectedly.” Scott Wampler of BirthMoviesDeath also gave his readers a “gentle reminder: Ari Aster is not afraid to smash cut to a gory close-up.” Where this could’ve come off as gratuitous in lesser hands, Aster knows how to incorporate carnage without taking cheap shots.

#8: Its Chilling Musical Score

In “Hereditary,” Colin Stetson composed a piercing musical score that made it feel as if our skin was slowly being peeled off. For “Midsommar,” Aster turned to musician Bobby Krlic, better known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak. Once again, Aster’s film owes much of its creepy atmosphere to its music, which IndieWire described as an “eerie wail.” While Variety’s Andrew Barker took issue with the characters and pacing, he felt that the music drove the narrative forward, writing that Bobby Krlic’s “inventive, eminently confident score supplies quite a lot of the emotional heavy lifting that the screenplay neglects, and imbues even the more ridiculous spectacles with artful intrigue.”

#7: Its Arresting Visuals

There seems to be a consensus that horror movies need to primarily take place at night and the key scares have to be draped in darkness. Aster challenges this notion in “Midsommar,” setting a majority of the story in a village where the sun never sets. Dread Central’s Jonathan Barkan wrote that “Cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski captures Halsingland in all its rural majesty.” J Hurtado of ScreenAnarchy was impressed with not only the camerawork, but also the movie’s sets, praising the art direction and production design as “bursting with tiny details that will have audiences revisiting scenes over and over again looking for clues.”

#6: There Are Plenty of Themes to Analyze

Similar to Toni Collette’s character in “Hereditary,” the protagonist of “Midsommar” faces a personal tragedy. Comparing “Midsommar” to “Hereditary”, Eric Kohn wrote in IndieWire that “Aster has crafted a complex allegory for grief and anger against the backdrop of more symbolic threats. But this time, they’re hiding in plain sight.” Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson also drew parallels between the two films, writing that if “Hereditary” “was about the repellant nature of grief . . . ‘Midsommar,’ is about the allowance that comes after that.” In both movies, the themes of loss and trauma tie into the terror, making the audience paranoid and increasingly intrigued. In other words, Aster is a master of horror, but you wouldn’t want him as your therapist.

#5: The Humor Services the Horror

“Hereditary” wasn’t without its moments of dark humor, but Screen Anarchy describes “Midsommar” as “frequently and deliberately hilarious.” SlashFilm’s Chris Evangelista was somewhat caught off guard by the film’s sense of humor, cheekily opening his review saying, “After filling audiences with dread with ‘Hereditary,’ director Ari Aster has decided to make…a comedy?” That being said, Evangelista clarifies that the film is equal parts funny and frightening, writing that Midsommar “blends both laugh-out-loud humor and mind-blowing weirdness.” DreadCentral highlighted Will Poulter as a source of self-aware humor, describing his character as “specifically there to laugh at and not with.”

#4: Florence Pugh’s Petrifying Performance

With two feature films now under his belt, there are three things we’re coming to expect from Aster’s work: a unique approach to the horror genre, an uncomfortable tone, and a captivating performance from the female lead. Florence Pugh has received nothing but praise for her breakthrough performance in “Midsommar.” Screen Anarchy compared Pugh to Toni Collette, raving, “She’s asked to express an incredible range of emotion in ‘Midsommar,’ and she nails it at every turn.” Screen Daily’s Tim Grierson was enamored with Pugh as well, writing that she delivers “a supple performance that, nonetheless, requires her to go big during the movie’s feverish later sections.”

#3: It’s Like “The Wicker Man” … The GOOD One

Today, “The Wicker Man” is mainly associated with Nicolas Cage running around in a bear suit and getting an eyeful of bees. “Midsommar” shares more in common with the 1973 original, including its mysterious village and disturbing atmosphere. Jordan Peele, the writer/director of “Get Out” and “Us,” even went as far to say that “Midsommar” “usurps ‘The Wicker Man’ as the most iconic pagan movie to be referenced.” “The Wicker Man” isn’t the only horror classic the film has earned comparison to. The Hollywood Reporter’s John DeFore noticed a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” while other reviews have referenced everything from “Cannibal Holocaust,” to “Long Weekend,” to “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” All the while, “Midsommar” maintains an identity that’s all its own.

#2: It’s Strangely Relatable

As crazy as “Midsommar” can get, people may be surprised by just how much they come to identify with its depiction of toxic relationships. Haleigh Foutch of Collider described the film as a “breakup drama, reframed through the lens of a kaleidoscopic psychological nightmare.” As Dani and Christian’s relationship falls apart, Foutch explained, audiences are drawn with them into the public rituals of breaking up - the poisonous codependency, the public awkwardness, and the inevitable and dramatic crash. Likewise, Nerdist editor Lindsey Romain found the film to be “a wicked, accurate depiction of intoxicating mania.” So, probably not the ideal movie for a first date?

#1: It’s a Worthy Follow-Up to “Hereditary”

Ari Aster set the bar pretty high with “Hereditary,” which WatchMojo selected as the Best Film of 2018. Critics have not only generally agreed that “Midsommar” is a worthy sophomore outing, but also exemplifies Aster’s evolution behind the camera. BirthMoviesDeath asked the question that everyone will likely have going in: “is ‘Midsommar’ as scary as ‘Hereditary?’” The review suggested that “Midsommar” is an entirely different breed of scary, although it “will give you nightmares.” While not necessarily better than “Hereditary,” BirthMoviesDeath did call “Midsommar” “a smoother ride than Aster's previous film, showing growth on his part as a filmmaker and further cementing this director as a dude who can definitely be counted on to pull no punches.”