user26687: I want to create a distortion effect around someone's head, kind of like what a swirly bokeh would do.  There are two different shots that I could find that use this effect in the film 'Midsommar', one in which there is a swirly distorted effect around a head, and another where general swirls around the screen appear.  While it looks like a keyframed liquify effect from PhotoShop, I'm not sure if it can be recreated in after effects.  How can I do this?

https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1

user27756: This is a desired look that stills photographers have been creating with Helios 44 lenses. It's quite possibly a native analogue effect see swirly bokeh.  To simulate the effect using the above using @clif's three layer solution. On the bottom layer with spherical distortion, radial focus blur, and some circular smearing increasing at the boundary of the image.
Ref:  https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg

user27384: Without having seen the movie, it may be difficult to get it down exactly, but here is what I came up with. 

Duplicate your layer twice, so that you have three copies.
On the top layer mask out the person. 



Set the mask feather to around 30px. 
Copy and paste the mask to the other two layers. 
On the middle layer, set the mask feather to 60 and the mask expansion to 60. (can be adjusted to suit).
On the bottom layer, set the mask to subtract mode and add a 'Turbulent Displace' effect to the layer. 
Adjust the size to suit (I chose 30) and you can keyframe the 'Amount' to have it animate on or off. I also added the expression 'time * 500' to the 'Evolution' property to add some movement. 

Here is what mine ended up looking like: 

Hope this is close to what you're after.

26687: <p>I want to create a distortion effect around someone's head, kind of like what a swirly bokeh would do.  There are two different shots that I could find that use this effect in the film 'Midsommar', one in which there is a swirly distorted effect around a head, and another where general swirls around the screen appear.  While it looks like a keyframed liquify effect from PhotoShop, I'm not sure if it can be recreated in after effects.  How can I do this?
<a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/8YlPr.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/8YlPr.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://giphy.com/gifs/a24-midsommar-QW3GavVLEeTa3Rpkx1</a></p>
 27756: <p>This is a desired look that stills photographers have been creating with Helios 44 lenses. It's quite possibly a native analogue effect see swirly bokeh.  To simulate the effect using the above using @clif's three layer solution. On the bottom layer with spherical distortion, radial focus blur, and some circular smearing increasing at the boundary of the image.</p>

<p>Ref:  <a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://live.staticflickr.com/967/27986297808_2f0f5ebaf2_b.jpg</a></p>
 27384: <p>Without having seen the movie, it may be difficult to get it down exactly, but here is what I came up with. </p>

<ul>
<li>Duplicate your layer twice, so that you have three copies.</li>
<li>On the top layer mask out the person. </li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Q7sM.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3Q7sM.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<ul>
<li>Set the mask feather to around 30px. </li>
<li>Copy and paste the mask to the other two layers. </li>
<li>On the middle layer, set the mask feather to 60 and the mask expansion to 60. (can be adjusted to suit).</li>
<li>On the bottom layer, set the mask to subtract mode and add a 'Turbulent Displace' effect to the layer. </li>
<li>Adjust the size to suit (I chose 30) and you can keyframe the 'Amount' to have it animate on or off. I also added the expression 'time * 500' to the 'Evolution' property to add some movement. </li>
</ul>

<p>Here is what mine ended up looking like: </p>

<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3soRF.gif" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/3soRF.gif" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Hope this is close to what you're after.</p>
