I went to see this bizarre, challenging, disturbing and head-scratching film primarily because it stars Florence Pugh (who I thought was excellent in last year’s TV series The Little Drummer Girl) and directed by Ari Aster (who made last year’s Hereditary, a cool horror story/psychological thriller). Pugh plays an American who, in the aftermath of a family tragedy, tags along with her boyfriend and his guy friends to a summer festival in rural Sweden. (One of the guys is from there.) The village is obviously run as some sort of cult, and boy do things get weird quite fast. It turns out that while Pugh’s character is looking to reconnect with life, this village may not be part of the best route to achieving her goal. I’m still not sure why I couldn’t avert my gaze for the movies 2.5+-hour run time. (Some subtitles.)
