I call Midsommar my “red flag movie” - based on how people react to Christian 😅 🚩

The whole movie is a litmus test for how susceptible people are to cults. I don't hate Dani or Christian, and I feel like they passed a point of no return way before her decision to kill him. The cult was never going to let them go - especially Dani. If she had chosen the other guy to die, she would have failed their loyalty test/entrapment scheme & been placed inside the burning building along with Christian. I think something similar happened to Pelle's "parents" (he said they died in a fire) and Maja's child will probably be taken from her & raised with another couple, to believe he's was orphaned & adopted, just like Pelle.

very that! I’ve watched some people (men) react to this movie and immediately hate dani and side with christian… it’s extremely concerning

​@@sarahsarahsarah9093 Because he recognized that Dani was damaged and toxic, and didn't want that in his life? It's disgusting how women want men to deal with their problems, but won't stick with a man the minute he shows vulnerability.

@@BusterCherry1 Then he could have, ya know, broken up with her 🤷‍♀️ I have no issue with her problems being too much for him to deal with but he dealt with it like an asshole. I didn’t perceive his character to be struggling with the vulnerability that situation might bring up in someone but rather just trying to find an “out” for a complicated relationship without actually confronting the hard stuff and expressing his feelings to her.

That makes sense! I always think about how playing these characters can mess you up. The crazy thing is Florence Pugh literally starting shooting little women weeks after this movie! Talk about range!

It's good that he resented his character so much and recognizes Christian's toxicity, but still played him so well.

And supposedly it was his idea to run around naked during the ending too

He also was the one who suggested that after he got r*ped by the cult, he should be completely in the nude, because so many damn movies will put female nudity up on display, and he thought it was only fair to make the men uncomfortable for once. He may have played a damn right son of a bitch, but he seems like a cool dude irl.

@@MonyXChanthat’s actually a great point. I “appreciate” (for lack of a better word) Ari and Jack touching on such a sensitive, complex, and even controversial topic not only of r* through coercion and drugs but also of men. Many people believe only women get r* and men can never be victims of these heinous crimes. So to see it portrayed in a film, it felt so gut wrenching and I couldn’t help but sympathize with the character because he was nowhere near in his right mind to even consent to it. I do understand he knowingly went to have s*x, he didn’t want to do it with that woman and he was merely a puppet in that moment. You can just see it in his eyes that he really did not want to be there and ugh I hated that scene so much. It really stuck with me. The whole movie did but that’s one of those scenes that broke me.

did they talk about it at the beginning of the movie (Christian and his friends?) There is a time skip between the beginning and whenever they have that party and Dani finds out. But still - trash!!

@@specificsoup yess it’s only a line but Pele is talking about all the women Christian will impregnate in June, plus after the time skip since it’s so sunny it’s at least spring/summer so at least a season had gone by. So we can infer at least 3-5 months had passed

Also, they were together four years AND TWO WEEKS which implies he also forgot about their anniversary and she let it slide

​@@rogerromero2663yess they were planning the trip for a long time, he was planning to break up before traveling but was too coward for it. You can see when asked he said 6 months less than Dani, because he tapped out that night her parents died

Oh my gosh I never put that together. Thank you! He is just the WORST. In the extended cut, he's even grosser, and that's saying something with all this.

It’s not the illusion of freedom that she gets, it’s the illusion of love and family. She really wanted an emotional partner in Christian, she’s very codependent, and it increased after losing her family. She’s terrified of being alone, and now in this crazy cult, she’s happy because she’ll never be alone again.

that was a very precise and illuminating way to put it. The only thing I wonder is the the guy who brought them in, I wonder if he loved her, but then they will all have to go out to seduce strangers so maybe not.

Eh

Yeah, Midsommar is mad tragic. All the sunshine, flowers, beauty and empathy make it all the more dark and unsettling. Brilliant film.

Does wanting to have an emotional partner make her codependent? I don't think she's happy at the end, but it's one of the emotions Ari Aster wants us to know she's feeling

peak contained acting

Sadly the academy keeps overlooking the horror genre.

Same for toni collette in hereditary😩

I totally disagree Pugh was one note the whole movie , depressed an sobbing . Show me some range girl

@@JaSoNfAn222the character was supposed to be emotionless and broken, completely closed off from the world, kind of a wet blanket for the otherwise rowdy friend group. Someone that broken is going to be easily manipulated as her character was. She played it perfectly.

Sounds like you grew up around a cult. The stuff you just described is not normal or ok. Sounds sick

I find the rituals and tradition beautiful, and they were beautifully portrayed in this movie (minus the death, LOL). Ari Aster seems to devote a lot of his time to really getting to know the ins and outs of his stories. He definitely did his research here. As someone who has only read about these things, it is nice to get a confirmation from someone of that culture of how close to reality it actually is. Really cool.

⁠​⁠@@LibertineDeSadeyes! Even with all the events going on, I disassociated to cope and couldn’t help but think “I still want to go there!” 😂 it’s so idyllic and serene. The festival itself was always so beautiful to me! He did an excellent job of separating the two. You know it’s a real tradition BUT you know this is overdramatized. We get some history and background, but it’s been warped by this cult. This was honestly a very smart ‘anti-fairytale’.

well it looked really beautiful til all the shit started happening. It actually looks like a wonderful festival. I wish Americans had things like that. Well I guess some do, no one in my family tho has traditions of any kind.

I always knew the Swedes were up to something and this movie confirmed it 😂 Just kidding, greetings from Finland 😊

The original Wicker Man is much better. As if anyone would hang around after two people leapt off a cliff, clapped on by a crowd of people.

@@orangewarm1where the hell else are they supposed to go, i’m sure they’d be stopped no matter what

I would say this movie is more unsettling and disturbing than scary, I felt uncomfortable watching

@@orangewarm1u clearly didnt got the point of the movie then... they were starting to be brainwashed, and even if they planned to leave they would kill them before like they did with that one couple

@@kels154do you mean the cult members or the guests? Dani was the only guest to get brainwashed

You are not alone...

I think that's the same for about half the folks watching. Humans like socialising and when there ain't no socialising these are next best thing.

Same 🫶

After I got through the whirlwind of emotions, I sat back and thought about what happens to Dani the day after and that's when the horror really set it. She's gonna come down off all those drugs and the high of being the May Queen (the lovebombing phase), and she's gonna realize not only did they kill all those people, but she essentially killed Christian. She won't be special anymore - she'll just be a worker bee in the hive. They're gonna put her to work in the kitchen and garden, she's gonna sleep in the communal bedroom, she'll never have a committed boyfriend or husband, they're gonna choose who she sleeps with, who she gets pregnant by and when (whether she ever wanted to have kids or not)... And she has no way to leave. They'll kill her if she tries. It's one thing to grow up in a cult believing all this, but she's already been "indoctrinated" to be an individual in the real world. Her only hope for any semblance of happiness is if she's been thoroughly, completely broken and accepts all their ways. Ari Aster did a great job in manipulating us into the ways of the cult too. We all have a day after, where we realize wait, Christian is horrible, but he didn't deserve to be raped and murdered for being a bad boyfriend. But we were rooting for that. At first we're happy for Dani - until we realize what happens after. We have to wake up from the cult indoctrination too. That's some masterful storytelling.

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@lunacouerthe way this exact question kept me up weeks after watching this nightmare. It’s all “fine and dandy” until she comes down from those drugs and reality sets in that she’s alone and stuck with this psychotic cult. She’ll constantly have to be drugged up and then ultimately her life is no longer her own. I really do feel like at the end, Dani had already reached a breaking point because that smile doesn’t seem like one of sheer happiness for finding her tribe. To me, it felt like she kind of accepted the inevitable. Her life was already changing so quickly and drastically but the events that occurred in the movie just sealed the deal. It gave me shivers and still does! And your last paragraph is PERFECT! It really did feel like a rollercoaster and reality hours days later that we also fell into the trap and begin to question ourselves. I surely did!

When I saw this I really didn’t feel happy for her at all, she looked crazy at the end and whilst Christian was a shit boyfriend and a not nice person he didn’t deserve to die

To be fair, the end of the script states that Dani snaps and that she’s completely gone at this point and that watching Christian being burned alive was the breaking point to her old life.

just saying, he chose to take that drug, he chose to sleep with that girl (he knew it was coming), he knew she was about 16, and he did it either for his school work or just because he wanted to. He never seems like a terrible person because he's so damn low key but he's a lying rat bastard who not only is happy to treat her like shit but also steals his friend's project. I didn't want to see him burn up but I didn't feel too bad for him either.

Definitely room for a sequel, I think the ending is abrupt. Never watched this movie because it looked boring (in my regretful opinion), but the part where it seemed like someone was wearing the friends skin as a mask left me surprised and wanting more explanation. Anyway of a sequel surfaces I’d watch it in theatre

Have never once seen anyone interpret the end as being happy.

​@@Hey_JamieI have. Lots of folks. Some on reactions of other KZfaqrs, some on social media. There was this whole discourse about whether or not it was a happy ending.

@@Hey_Jamiei have seen a lot lol

i mean, not to be rude, but most of the people i saw who thought the ending was ‘happy’ were either white women or people with 0 media literacy. there is something really white feminist coded about a white woman getting ‘revenge’ on the people who treated her bad, even tho literally everyone else can see she is brainwashed and completely stripped of her own identity.

OH MY GOD I NEVER REALIZED THAT ABOUT TERRI'S HEAD

Hell is other people.

Oh my god

How did they react to *that* scene 😂

@melissarose597 It was terrible and they could not believe it was happening, with an oh my goodness thrown in for good measure! ❤️

That is so iconic

I watched my first Pugh movie without even knowing it 😅 She's great in Fighting With My Family.

I really enjoyed both of those movies because of her performance in both.

The faces she makes in this are truly mesmerizing. She’s so expressive.

Also Pelle was saying that he was especially excited for her to go, and she hadn’t even originally planned on going. She probably wouldn’t have (at least not with them) if Christian hadn’t mentioned it, but Pelle was already looking forward to her specifically going

YES. Imagine being such a beautiful youth (bishonen) that you inspired an entire art/comic genre.

:o I didn’t know that was him wow.

I recognized him!

So that's why Dead Meat called him the most beautiful something in the world.

Lmao 😂

I tapped the thumbnail so hard that it didn't react so I'm over here like drumming my phone screen lmao

oh thats so funny

Well no

@@Zombina638 well yes. the whole movie shows him as a bad person which he is. but not a single person should've been treated like that with such a crazy death. the movie made u chose at the end and making it seem as Florence was in the right by choosing his fate

that *is* interesting.

You’re right! I didn’t think about that and I’ve seen all of those films too!! All 3 of these women smiled in the end of their films… for different reasons of course!

I wouldn't say Dani is HAPPY. She is broken. She has been brainwashed and driven mad. Honestly, I would say the same of Thomasin in The VVitch, too. She is a young girl, 16 years old, and is broken down by her families deaths into joining the witches by Black Phillip. She saw herself as damned and figured she may as well enjoy material luxury instead of losing her whole family for NOTHING. Black Phillip never tries to make her a deal BEFORE every member of her family is dead or gone and she has no options. Like, hell yeah, imma smile while flying until I learn that the ability to make me do so is from my dead infant brother. As for the Invisible Man, ABSOLUTELY, yes, good for her.

Women find those smiles frightening/threatening too so uhhhh maybe those smiles are scary cos of the INSANITY and not cos its a Strong Independent Woman smiling or whatever bs? 😂😂😂😂

@@rincaimo812 it's also very creepy that Black Philip makes her sign even though she's illiterate.

That's not happiness, don't associate a smile with just joy.

thanks for the comment! there's a definite white supremacist element to the film cult and I know that there's strong currents of it in sweden irl as well 😑 thanks for the translations and the context

Though the movie doesn’t scare me as much as make me feel uncomfortable, the suicide-murder scene (especially with the music score and the wailing of Dani combined) is genuinely haunting and nothing else comes close to the way that scene in the movie and the way it made me feel. Probably to do with my own mental instability.

Why would anyone want to be part of any of this? The whole commune lacks diversity. (I know they are in Sweden, but still!) No running water. No electricity. No Wi-Fi. All of the makings of crazy.

​@CC-si3cr I don't think people go to places like Namibia, China, Russia, Iraq, Cameroon, etc for diversity. Kinda makes the trip pointless if you're looking to experience the native culture lol

@@CC-si3crthey have electricity, as there was a part where they say they’re going to watch Austin powers

Actually, there’s been some clarification that he was dead but his lungs looked like they were moving because of the drugs. It’s like the flowers moving.

@@TheBrookelynChickthat’s not how a blood eagle works

The blood eagle doesnt work. Its a myth ​@Hey_Jamie

I agree! The ending is so powerful!!

The effed up part is that you are still alive when this is done to you. You can even see Simon’s lungs inflating and deflating because he’s still alive, barely. 🥺

WOW! That's amazing!

He must have sent him his birthday too since they said the two are an ideal astrological match

The police are on their way.

If I had watched it just one day sooner it woulda been the END OF ME 😭😭 I honestly don’t know how I made it 💀

Then again, he didn't want to be with or cared for his own girlfriend either lol

@@justjdnltrust me, he is a gaslighting jerk, I won’t deny that. Still doesn’t change how he was pretty clearly drugged and raped

I find it very questionable when people root for his demise "because he's an asshole" and completely abandon the fact that he WAS drugged, and WAS raped, AND THEN BURNED ALIVE! 🤣 All that "go girl, you deserve better" shit should go out the window when you look at the particulars.

@@reservoirdude92you can feel sorry that he was drugged and assaulted and hate him as a person, you know. i personally didn’t feel sorry that he died but i did feel sorry that he was drugged and forced to have sex with maya.

@@reservoirdude92imagine if the roles were reversed. I wonder would people had made a fuss if it was a woman being forced like Christian was? It’s very easy since men are easy prey to pick on more.

Pay attention, Pelle wears a crown without flowers, he's the May King

What a weird thing to want to do. Instead of just watching the movie you want to read it. Nope. Not in a book, but the script. Odd.

I mean even with him consenting before the drugs being applied it's still a very fucked thing to do and feels very date rapey.

It's still r*pe. At the time he had sex, Christian was so drugged he was barely able to speak. He was in no condition to consent in the moment. It's the same as someone agreeing to sex early on a date, but is blackout drunk a few hours later when someone has sex with them. If no consent can be given in the moment, sex shouldn't happen.

@@ShortThe1st Oh for sure, since they clearly didn't fully explain what the ritual would entail. But it at least gives him more definitive agency in the decision to cheat on Dani, and makes his mercenary nature all the bolder (since he partially agrees to the ritual so he can write about it in his thesis).

When I first watched the director's cut, I was like "OMG...he's actually evil. Why didn't you leave these parts in?? Now it's so clear he's abusive and wanted to cheat on her!" Later I realized how smart it was to leave it out. The theatrical cut makes us question ourselves on how we could be ok with him essentially being raped and murdered. He's awful, but does that mean he deserves that? Are we really going there? The director's cut gives us too much of an easy out, with how villainous he was and making it seem like it was _all_ consensual. We miss the point that once he was drugged, not once being told how this was gonna go down, it was rape. And we definitely needed to look at that. This movie really did open up the dialogue about male rape, and I'm glad it did.

@@lunacouer Nah... nothing he did in either version justified burning him alive. Anyone who felt Christian deserved it fell into an artistic trap.

he clearly only hangs out with white people though so he probably lost that sense. could never be me! 😂😂

pretty sure he was never meant to leave there alone, his disrespect for their tradition is just an excuse, but since they're pretty much white supremacist eugenistic pagans.. I have no clue why they'd let him go..