Matthew St Vincent

“MIDSOMMAR” was a brilliant and disturbing film that makes you feel dirty for watching it. It feels like a surreal snuff film that you’d get in trouble for watching. The plot is; after a family tragedy, a woman goes w/ her boyfriend and his friends to Sweden to a festival known as Midsommar. A few days in and the festivities don’t seem as innocent as initially thought. The direction was unquestionably OSCAR worthy and felt extremely thought out. Nothing in this film felt slacked off. It had a sense of direction that 90% of films are lacking these days. The writing was excellent and subtly foreshadows upcoming events. It had very smooth flowing dialogue that worked well in part thanks to the actors casted. Cinematography was just excellent and beyond words superb. It really captures the film and atmosphere. It shows what it wants and in a way that it wants. No shot ever feels like it didn’t have any thought put into it, it all feels thought out and for a reason. I could see an OSCAR for Best Cinematography in its future w/ the right campaign behind it. The acting was great throughout and from every cast member in the film. When they say that casting is 90% of directing, in this case they are absolutely right! The cast was perfect and had such chemistry that it felt like we were truly watching a real group of friends taking a vacation to a Midsommar festival. The musical score throughout is the real atmosphere builder. It creates a sense of uneasiness even during scenes of calm to emphasise the calm before the storm. The film’s gift is that you never know when the storm when the storm arrives. Sudden scenes when the elders give themselves to the other life catch you off guard after innocent scenes of festivities. The storm is a hurricane and hits hard. All up the film is just pure slow burn horror brilliance that is one of the Top Five films of the year. Rating: 8.4/10 • Huge shoutout to Roadshow for giving me the chance to experience this brilliant piece of cinema… TWICE!

PROS: Ewan McGregor gives a very entertaining performance as Black Mask, some occasionally entertaining action scenes and the R rated direction. ———————— CONS: •Terrible writing filled w/ forced dialogue that has characters reference it as if it excuses it’s terribleness. It is also filled w/ swearing that could have worked but is written into scenes in a way that a twelve year old reckons adults swear. •Jokes are often extremely flat. •The narration feels and a lazy b-grade attempt to copy “Deadpool” which includes a “Ferris Buller’s Day Off” parody after the credits. It is also used as an attempt to force exposition down our throats. •The narration is terribly inconsistent. •The movie doesn’t empower women by showing women doing incredible acts, it just makes ALL the men bad people. •The list of reasons why Harley Quinn says Black Mask wants to kill her include “I have a v*gina” and “I voted for Bernie”. •Huntress’s presence is constantly awkward. •Black Canary uses her powers once for like five second. •They use a character called Cassandra Cain but make her just an chubby pickpocket (who wen watching the film she does a terrible job). Making it completely redundant to call her Cassandra Cain when she isn’t even anything like the character in anyway except her ethnicity. •Ewan McGregor is way underused. •Black Mask wears the mask for like a whole of three minutes. •Black Mask is misrepresented as a Versace looking man instead of a bespoke suited crime lord. •Lazy writing has Black Mask send goons after the diamond after sending Harley Quinn after it when she promised to give it back (which she confirmed she had every intention to, later in the film). It is because of this stupid reason that the film is way longer than it would of been. •Victor Zsasz doesn’t have the look that makes Victor Zsasz… well, Victor Zsasz. •Victor Zsasz is just a weasel and not the component character that literally defines him. •For a movie wearing the R rating it really shy’s away from showing blood or much R rated violence besides the overused breaking of bones. …also much more.