Writer/director Ari Aster the creative forced behind last year’s Hereditary  is back with his sophomore feature film project Midsommar. People who are looking for a horror film in the vein of slashers, monsters, and action are likely to be disappointed with Aster’s slow-burn builds, languid deliberate pacing, and long-take, carefully choreographic photography however those who are enamored with psychological and sociological themed horror such as the originalThe Wicker Man  are likely to find something on Midsommarthat will appeal to their tastes,

Midsommar  centers on Dani ( Florence Pugh) and her disintegrating relationship with Christian (Jack Reynor.) Christian is already searching for a way to end the relationship when a familial tragedy shatters Dani leaving her grief stricken and emotionally vulnerable. Six months later Dani and Christian along with their friends Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter) are invited to vacation and enjoy the mid-summer festivities at an isolated commune The Harga in northern Sweden by their exchange student friend Pelle. Once at the Harga subtle cultural conflicts slowly building between the guests, now including a pair of romantically invested UK students, and the residents of the commune. The guests used psychoactive drugs recreationally while the residents consume them for religious purposes, Christian and Mark want to study the commune for their academic advancement, while for the residents their way of life is part of an ancient and sacred tradition, and Mark sees sexual activities as something of pure pleasure the commune considers it more of cycle of life never foregoing the goal of procreation. These conflicts are not expressed in boisterous loud scenes of shouting but rather build layer by layer a growing sense of dread as the two cultures move irreconcilably towards a devastating final reveal. Dani, unlike the others, starts finding a place and a people that see her emotional injury and, though often concerned about the mysterious events that hint at darker motivations and truths, she discovers an acceptance and even a form of healing that Christian has been unable to give. As the film shifts from the second act into the third the plot descends into revelations, betrayals, the final dissolution of Dani and Christian’s relationship and culminates with Dani’s final resolution the more traditional horror film aspects emerge.

With strong echoes of The Wicker Man, which for those of you in San Diego will be playing soon for one day only at the Ken Cinema, Midsommar  is a movie that invites deep consideration and that for many will haunt their thoughts long after the final credits have vanished from the screen. Gorgeously photographed by Pawel Pogorzelski the film manages a continuously building atmosphere of dread and unease in a setting that has no period of true darkness. It is the rare horror film, psychological or otherwise, that attempts much less succeeds at mood building without a heavy reliance on dark deep shadows. The score is a different sort of musical accompaniment and I do not have the required background in knowledge or terminology to adequately explain it but in terms of mood it fit perfectly, enhancing the film’s emotional subtext without telegraphing it in broad blatant techniques. (Though that aspect of my experiences was marred by the deep bass rumblings from the Imax auditorium next tour ours screening Spider-Man: Far From Home.)

The cast is uniformly terrific, playing each character with credible depth and complexity. I want to make a particular note of William Jackson Harper perhaps best known as Chidi on NBC’s hit show The Good Place. Once again Harper is playing a character with a strong academic nature but through the strength of the script and Harper’s with subtle but effective physicality, I never once had any echoes of his role from that show.

Over all I loved the film and it has elevated Aster into a place where I will go see his next film without any other inducements required. Midsommaris a film that is not for everyone, but if you found Hereditary  or The Witchcompelling viewing then you should waste no time in seeing this movie.