Due to widespread ravings from film critics, I went into Midsommar and Hereditary with high hopes.
I love horror, and their descriptions sounded right up my alley. However, as I watched both films, I felt further and further disappointed. What went wrong in Aster’s most widely acclaimed movies?
Midsommar was the first Aster film I watched. I saw it back in June 2024, as I was trying to get more into the world of movies. The opening concept intrigued me, but it quickly became a tough watch. I know it is intended to cause discomfort, but I felt that Midsommar’s uncomfortable scenes contributed nothing to the movie’s overall message. Further, the basis of Dani’s strained relationship lies in the murder-suicide committed by her bipolar sister, a depiction of mental illness that I find to be deeply problematic and demonizing.
My least favorite scene comes much later: the sexual assault scene of Christian, Dani’s boyfriend. Members of the Swedish cult coerce him into sleeping with a 15-year-old, something truly disgusting and horrible to watch. I can deal with difficult portrayals in film, but I think this crossed the line. Its artistic significance is questionable as well. I believe Aster focuses too deeply on making these brutal scenes “aesthetically pleasing” rather than focusing on an ethical portrayal of traumatic moments.
Overall, the concept of Midsommar may be intriguing, but the film falls short in every way. A Letterboxd review from user @Communicants says it all: “Was this based on a rough draft?”
Now, I’ve been procrastinating on watching Hereditary for a long time. I was unable to blindly accept its praise, though, so I felt the need to watch it as the self-proclaimed horror enthusiast I am. I found this film to be just as messy and incoherent as Midsommar. It feels like Ari Aster tried to compile every horror trope into one movie: cult rituals, dollhouses, mental illness, troubled grief, sudden death, body horror, possession, and so on.
In trying to fit so many ideas into two hours, Aster made Hereditary into a jumbled mess that lacks meaning. I’ve seen many credit this film with setting the principles of horror for years to come, but I’m not sure how it could do so when all its ideas seem to be borrowed from prior films and mashed together.
Aster also loves adding scenes of naked old people purely for shock value, something I find to be extremely juvenile. Also, he demonizes mental illness once again. The cursed bloodline is attributed to mental illness multiple times, starting with Annie’s mom and making its way through the family tree. This accomplishes nothing beyond negative stereotyping.
“Am I missing something?” was my one coherent thought coming out of Aster’s acclaimed films. Beyond playing into too many tropes at once and painting mental illness in a villainous light, I found both films to be messy and lacking substance.
I believe people find Midsommar and Hereditary to be deep simply because they can’t find a clear-cut meaning, even through rewatching. Personally? I think it’s possibly because they lack meaning as a whole.
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