Midsommar

1 THE PARENTS

Ben Travis: The thing that lingered with me most from Hereditary is the sheer dread and emotional trauma that director Ari Aster conjured — and in , that’s most keenly felt in the opening sequence. It could almost be its own short film, a kind of miniature companion piece to where a family implodes from within — though this time there’s no supernatural get-out to blame. It’s just sheer human tragedy, shot in a way that creates unbearable anxiety with filmmaking that is utterly calm and considered.