New
York based writer-director Ari Aster has been quite a trendy darling in the
horror community over the past couple of years.
Back to back, he singlehandedly transformed the indie releasing company
A24 into a formidable box office force with his directorial debut Hereditary and second feature Midsommar. Both films debatably of the horror genre with
frequently extreme elements drawing inspiration from European horror directors
such as Roman Polanski or Robin Hardy, the thirty-three year old Mr. Aster quickly
established himself as a major player in the horror film ballpark. Before you dive in, be sure to check out fellow Movie Sleuth writer Michelle and Kyle's reviews here and here.
His
previous film from last year, Hereditary marked
the first truly terrifying and deeply disturbing horror film dealing in the
occult since William Friedkin’s The
Exorcist with an equally savage mean streak. His most recent feature, however, is a far
more ambitious and daring effort, pushing the envelope into realms of grotesque
rituals and uncomfortable sexuality twined with grief and anger set against the
broad daylight retreat of Swedish summer.
Arguably closer to Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes
from a Marriage than Robin Hardy’s The
Wicker Man, Midsommar proved to
be a harrowing and confrontational work which unfortunately ran into a variety
of problems in the editing room on the first go-around.
Though
Aster retained final cut in the end, the American-Swedish co-production was hit
with the dreaded NC-17 and A24 asked for the director to pare down the film’s
near three-hour running time to a more commercially viable two-and-a-half
hours. Given the recent worldwide box
office mega-smash Avengers: Endgame
with its three-hour running time, that argument of a film being too long to
make money no longer exists. In any
event, word got out after the film’s theatrical run that Midsommar was in fact truncated though bear in mind every cut was
made with Aster’s full oversight. Soon
enough interest in what was deleted and what didn’t make the more audience
friendly censored R rated cut gave birth to what would become known as Midsommar: The Director’s Cut.
Granted
a limited release this Labor Day weekend and slated for an eventual iTunes
exclusive digital streaming release (no current plans for a Blu-Ray), this is
the original unrated version of Ari Aster’s masterful foray into a
disintegrating relationship with Pagan ritualistic horror as the backdrop. Having debuted theatrically with a running
time of 147 minutes, this new Director’s
Cut restores some 24 minutes of footage, bringing the length to a now
extended 171 minutes.
Filled
with scene extensions peppered throughout the film as well as one crucial
sequence which in my opinion is the heart and soul of the film, this new Midsommar: The Director’s Cut for me
personally fixes much of what felt like holes and jumps in the third act. While the theatrical cut worked just fine, I
would be lying if I said the third act didn’t start to feel like it started
making startlingly abrupt leaps in the editing room. Here, scenes which felt cut a tad short are
allowed to play out naturally here with ample breathing room without disrupting
the mounting tension or offsetting the power of the film’s ever brutal
shocks.
What
stands out the most here is the character of Christian Hughes (Jack Reynor),
Dani Ardor’s (Florence Pugh) increasingly distant boyfriend. While still an arrogant and two-faced prick,
the theatrical cut as is still left a modicum of sympathy for his plight once his
just desserts arrive. With the director’s
cut, which restores a great fight between himself and Dani, Christian comes off
as a complete monster we can’t wait for the Pagans to viciously murder. It’s a pivotal scene which for me personally
is the missing piece that completes the film and provides a significantly
different outlook on the film’s coda.
While
I did admire Ari Aster’s second home run with the horror genre and tendencies
towards transgression and oppression, something about it felt amiss the first
time around, like they started cutting corners to get to the finish line
faster. It felt unnatural and out of
step with the beats of the film. I’m
happy to say this new extended and unrated Midsommar:
The Director’s Cut resolves those problems and now feels finished and
correct. The theatrical cut is the one
most people know and that version still manages to be a terrifying shocker and
a return to broad daylight horror, but the director’s cut takes an already
great film and perfects it into a masterpiece.
Score:
- Andrew Kotwicki