_**“The Wicker Man” meets “The Village”**_

Invited by their genial Swedish friend, four college students from New York take a vacation to rural Sweden to experience a Midsummer celebration at a commune. A couple of them are cultural anthropology students, who are naturally interested in the friendly isolated group and their odd ceremonies. The situation goes from friendly and curious to shocking. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor play the American protagonists.

“Midsommar” (2019) is folk horror that plays out like “The Wicker Man” (1973/2006) meets “The Village” (2004) with elements of “The Lords of Salem” (2012). The topic of visiting a secluded pagan religious community and the increasing challenges thereof can be seen in other flicks like “Ogre” (2008), “The Ritual” (2017) and “Apostle” (2018), as well as the recent Indie “Devil’s Island” (2021).

If you like these kinds of movies “Midsommar” delivers the goods. Writer/director Ari Aster did his homework, combining fact with fiction, old and new. There’s an insightful comparison between the lack of social intimacy in modern Western culture and the family-like camaraderie of the remote Commune. Pugh makes for an effective protagonist and there’s some convincing gore. It’s a professionally made piece no doubt.

Unfortunately, the first half is more compelling than the second, which devolves into tedious ceremonies and the corresponding gobbledygook. Hammer’s “The Mummy” (1959) had the same issue but was mercifully an hour shorter. “Midsommar” needed tightened up for a more gripping viewing experience, but directors generally don’t like to cut scenes from their ‘baby.’

The film runs 2 hours, 27 minutes, and was shot in Budakeszi, Hungary (Hårga), as well as Korda Studios, Etyek, and Budapest, Hungary; Dani’s apartment was shot in Brooklyn, New York.

GRADE: B-