Last summer, Ari Aster offered up an incredibly memorable directorial debut with the disturbing and critically-acclaimed Hereditary. But, if you think that even the horror drama’s most messed up moments can prepare you for what’s to come in his sophomore effort, Midsommar, think again.
The indie production company , A24, seems to know full well that the incredibly perverse stylings of Ari Aster is part of the hype surrounding his latest release. A24 has proudly shared Midsommar’s official R-rating and quite a few intimidating reasons why. Take a look:
It’s safe to say Midsommar is heavily leaning into its R rating, as it commits just about every offense in the book as it includes: “disturbing ritualistic violence, grisly images, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language”. The Twitter post makes it sound like the film was close to heading into NC-17 territory but the reached agreement with the Motion Picture Association of America is R - albeit a hard R.
Hereditary by comparison almost looks like a walk in the park. Here’s it’s reason for receiving an R-rating by the MPAA: horror violence, disturbing images, language, drug use and brief graphic nudity. Perhaps the two film’s polar opposite aesthetics. While many of Hereditary’s horrors lie in the film’s dark tones, Midsommar takes place at a summer Swedish festival, where the sun only sets for around two hours a day.
So get ready for ‘grisly images’ at full brightness! Get Out and Us filmmaker Jordan Peele was one of the first to review the film, saying it had one of the “most atrociously disturbing imagery” he’d ever seen on screen. He also highly praised the film, naming it “the most idyllic horror film of all time”. Check out what else Peele told Aster of his Midsommar accomplishment:
You’ve taken Stepford Wives and shattered the attractiveness of that movie with this one. That alone is a feat. Also, there are some obvious comps out there, but this movie is just so unique. This hasn’t existed yet, and anything after Midsommar is going to have to contend with it. I mean, this usurps The Wicker Man as the most iconic pagan movie to be referenced.
This is a rave Midsommar review from another horror mastermind! He’s not the only one. The film currently has a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with almost 50 reviews filed.
When the first audiences of Midsommar expressed their first reactions to the film, many could not help but offer up an R-rated response as well. Reactions included a TON of f-bombs of every variation with first reviews expressing the horror film with “what the fuck”, “gonna fuck y’all up” and “totally fucked”.
It may be the only word you can think of after witnessing Midsommar. The film starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter and Vilhelm Blomgran follows a group of friends at summer getaway gone awry, when rituals and celebrations blur the beautiful flower crowns and sunshine surrounding them. Midsommar hits theaters on July 3.
