With the idea of something appalling being transformed into a type of ironic pornography, heralded by the Saw franchise giving rise to torture porn, Ari Aster's movies Hereditary and Misommoar, to me, are examples of grief porn. I don't think glorying the depictions of women grieving in guttural groaning and sobbing is intended to be appealing, but I noticed between the two films the focus on women going through the painful loss of loved ones, forcing us to live in their space perhaps longer than we'd prefer. The director seemed to have a fixation with this depiction, and wants us to share in it rather than turn away.
I wasn't thrilled with Hereditary, though I did appreciate it. I'm not a huge fan of Toni Collette when she's using her American accent, it's convincing but her performances seem so much more forced to me than her earlier Australian work. But she's never failed to convey the wretchedness and ugliness of sorrow, that hideous twist you can get in your face when you're bawling, cheeks wet with tears, all the saliva in your mouth stretching between the teeth. (She did this just as well in Muriel's Wedding). It's hard to watch but Aster insists we do. Hereditary's fractured story is slightly harder to follow, but its imagery remains after one viewing. You ponder its aspects to a degree.
Midsommar, however, extends this notion of grief so much further. It's a lesson in withholding and denying the process of grief to its fullest extent. It explores ageing though the views of an isolated cult in Sweden, who execute a long ritual every 90 years to bring fertility and prosperity through human sacrifice, with the acceptance suffering a natural death of old age is worse than willingly expiring at 72. Where the visitors see two people forced into sacrifice, we're meant to see something beautiful about having the choice to die. We're not supposed to value the outsider's view becoming too old as being right or good. And I had to appreciate that, regardless of the gruesomeness of the deaths in the film. It reminded me more of the ending of a show, David the Gnome, where the titular gnome and his wife come to the end of their lives and celebrate this, heading to their resting place on a hill where they turn into trees. For a kids' show, it was such a beautiful way of exploring death as something that no one should truly fear. To force people to live in a frail body is more disgusting to me than giving them the right to a humane death.
We move mostly with the character Dani, experiencing all her pain from the death of her family, that she bottles up to protect others from. Meanwhile, her beleaguered boyfriend of four years, Christian, is contemplating leaving her due to her ongoing depression, this disaster making him feel obligated to stay while desperate to leave her sphere of pain and sorrow. He comforts her but not in any sincere way that makes her feel loved. The only person who accepts her pain (more than she does), is the foreigner Pelle, the one leading her and Christian, with their friends, to the isolated community. The language barrier is used to hide the truth of what the outsiders are walking into, but I don't see this as a slight upon the villagers to turn the audience against that culture. I think there was some backlash, and the village's traditions were a mixed bag of others, there's definitely Amish and Nordic cultures involved. One of the village elders is aware enough of the world outside and how they view things. They fund their lives by selling their wares, they don't break traffic laws. They understand more of what's beyond them than the outsiders do of them.
While we're supposed to be fearful of this commune, there are sinister elements there, however subtle, I found myself choosing their side, and agreeing with so much we're supposed to oppose in their actions. I was so on their side to the point I wanted Dani to end up with Pelle. To my mind, Pelle was the true hero rescuing Dani from Christian's inconsiderate friends, punishing them for their disrespect of not only her, but the community as a whole.
While Josh, the student working on his thesis on midsummer festivals, purports to be respectful of other societies as an anthropologist, he commits more acts of ignorance and selfishness defying the requests not to document or photograph certain aspects of the community. His duplicitous behaviour is what gets him killed. Buddy and group douche, Mark, is there for drugs and women, committing one heinous act of pissing on the sacred fallen tree, making himself the epitome of the ignorant American tourist who doesn't come to experience or appreciate, but to take what he wants of the culture he's immersed in, all while bitching about the aspects he finds threatening, like ticks and the midnight sun. He's purposefully so unlikable you don't really care he's later involved in the final sacrifice, it's an appropriate comeuppance. Christian is somewhat more nuanced at first, his decision to steal Josh's thesis idea since he's not figured it out putting them at odds to further fracture this group. Two other outsiders, Simon and Connie, from the UK, aren't explored as deeply, only showing respect for the community until the first ritual is exhibited. They decide to leave, but of course, they don't escape.
Where we're seeing hints of horror movie tropes by way of the group being broken up either physically or emotionally, Midsommar somehow takes the sinister behaviour of the community to a much more interesting level. Suspicions are aroused but we're cognisant of what's going on, we're not subjected to too many shots of furtive members, perhaps one or two stare in disdain at the outsiders. Given the movie is just soaked in sunlight, we're not seeing so many shadow-ridden shots obscuring the horror. In fact, the world the travelers leave behind is darker and more darkly lit. Dani weeps in the dark with Christian after her family dies, we're detached from her at this point. But her later moment with the women of the village is shot in dusty light, where we're with them, curled up with her, grieving with her. So much of the last moments give an empowerment to Dani, you revel in her becoming the May Queen, the levity of the music in the final scenes gives rise to a sense of relief and joy, the time for grieving is coming to an end to bring absolute acceptance. Oh, and the black guy isn't the first to go.
Pelle might be the quintessential bad guy of the horror genre luring these victims to their death, but his compassion for Dani and happiness of her rise to May Queen make him a bizarre hero. To me, he was so much more the hero of Dani's story, he remembers her birthday when her own long term boyfriend completely forgets. For every moment Christian fails to make her happy, Pelle is there to show her true concern and consideration. He's eventually heralded as one of the honored of the final ritual for fulfilling his duty in bringing the four outsiders to the village, and I didn't hate the guy. I didn't hate the people of the village. I was completely on their side and didn't give a damn about the others being sacrificed. You're meant to hate these guys for their attitude to other cultures. They're genuine pricks from the start, faking their friendliness towards Dani while demanding Christian break up with her so she's not killing their fun. For anyone who's ever been guilt-tripped into smiling or getting over their pain for the sake of others, this is your type of porn. This would vindicate anyone who's been alone in a circle of friends who can no longer tolerate their misery. Dani's depression is so acceptable to us, but to her friends, she's just a drama queen, they dismiss her endless fear of her sister doing something drastic, they work to exclude her and begrudgingly include her, Christian's passive-aggressive offers for her to hang out with them clearly centred around the hope she'll decline, while he can say he at least asked. He wants to run off to Sweden, he's persistently looking for exits from Dani in his internal conflict not to abandon her. And while he might unwittingly fall into the final trap set for him, you want Dani to exact her revenge for his betrayal.
This is a giant middle finger to anyone who has tried to shit on the process of grief, and allowing others to grieve. It's such a cautionary tale for those who hide their feelings from partners and persist with dishonesty for the sake of the feelings of others, and who constantly take the blame for others disappointing them. And as we're exploring the fractured relationship between Dani and Christian, we're warned of the consequences of withholding and dismissing a significant other. To the point they were offering couples counseling to audiences. You're yelling at Dani and Christian to confront their issues in that hypocritical way you know you wouldn't do yourself in the same situation. The falseness of kindness and skirting around the problem is pronounced as much as the gruesomeness, reminding us life can be ugly. Dani knows the others are condescending to her, she suspects Christian wants to leave and she laughs off their perception of her. She's thoroughly ashamed of her sadness, constantly running away to smother her panic attacks and crying. That's the horrific part that held the mirror up to my face. If you've not run to hide your emotions you might question why she does. She's fighting with herself and her own internal bullshit so much harder, and she's out in the middle of nowhere on an Ativan withdrawal on mushrooms. That's the horror of it.
Much like Hereditary, we're truly forced to face the ugliness of death and grief. In Midsommar, we're asked to celebrate the ideas of death, and any squeamishness on the viewer's part isn't allowed for. Aster presents death and misery with a patient request to accept this. He doesn't indulge in the gruesome moments, in all honesty the bloodiest parts weren't so convincing to me to make me look away. I wasn't scared by this movie, I enjoyed most of the last scenes, it was probably the ritualistic sex that was more discomforting, but that was juxtaposed with Dani's grieving to culminate in her expulsion of pain and acceptance of loss. We're empowered by this, granted permission at last to actually cry with her and live her relief through her smile. Despite her almost pantomime flower gown and headdress, you're not laughing at her. Her dancing is euphoric and distracts from the horrific events going on outside the dance. You have a moment to fear for her safety too, she's become the final girl in a sense, but she's not bolting or denying the community their desires to celebrate. She's very much the willing tourist who allows this to go on around her until she acclimates, just as Christian advised her to do, the final irony of the film. To everyone's eyes, Dani's become a neurotic nuisance. To us, she's entirely justified. The assholes are everyone in Dani's life. They're the bad guys, mostly for gaslighting her into thinking nothing is bad as it seems. Christian's friends think he should dump her, her friend thinks Christian's not working in her best interest. Even when she has every right to be miserable, no one can truly put up with it, and she's not even demanding they do. What's frightening about this film is it delves directly into that persistent fear of not being there for someone at the vital moment they finally decide to act on their threats of suicide. And how forgiveness is harder to receive.
I know I'm really not supposed to be on the cult's side, but I was so in by then, agreeing with the community, with their humanity. They were humane, sacrificing others doesn't seem as abhorrent as it should be. There's something beautiful about it. I don't hate them. Dani's experience of death protects her from overreacting to the sight of it, initially shocked, her disassociative state protects her until she's alone, whereas her inexperienced friends recoil and protest. And they're punished for it. They're punished for persisting with the research, for their selfishness. They accept Dani's passiveness. She's fearful of staying but in truth, this will become her home. Pelle's insistence she should be there is played out. I was mentally shipping them despite his actions. In essence, Midsommar is probably the most beautiful horror film I've seen. Aster's direction is solid, I appreciate the hard cuts to transition from place to place, there aren't too many sweeping establishing shots, it's all measured out and obvious compared to Hereditary (which was supposed to be a family drama that accidentally became a horror movie). The journey is disjointed and full of sweeping upside down shots as we cross the threshold into the new world. And it's certainly something you need to see twice to appreciate the subtle clues you missed initially, like the painting over Dani's bed. Another shot of Christian in a mirror with Dani by the door convinced me he'd gone down a hallway to sit and she was still at the front door while he's so much further away behind her and not in front. The dialogue matches those tedious arguments you have with a loved one where you can't be honest but you're angry and cornered and don't want to fight. A horror film that can convey that much human nature without being boring or cliched is a certain diamond in the rough of jump scares and tired tropes. Hereditary did achieve this to some degree, Midsommar just makes more sense and seems more artful in its approach. The music may start out in a classic, ominous manner but that's gone by the end.
So I'm already watching it again just to see what I missed. I wouldn't write this off as another horror film, it has too much to offer beyond what we expect out of horror now. Its presentation is too beautiful to disregard. Its message is too powerful to dismiss. Asking you to go in with an open mind isn't enough. Just be prepared to face things you know you can't and it becomes so much more rewarding.
I did miss some aspects that were pointed out in someone else's discussion over which reading can be considered "correct" i.e. Dani has a good ending/bad ending. That being, Pele is also a victim of the cult who was orphaned (possibly by them, we don't know) so he's less of a willing participant and more likely another brainwashed outsider. Also, there are other conflicted villagers who are suffering for having to execute the outsiders. My excuse for reading Dani's fate as a good thing is she's too compelling and relatable to me, I can't disengage from her being poorly treated by everyone in her life. You have to have been in her position where you've had a period of depression and anxiety that had no catharsis whatsoever and you're trying desperately to get over it and on with your life so as not to be a burden, (like Dani's trying to do, I'm not willing to say she's refusing to change) to understand how vindicating it is for her grief to be accepted and dealt with finally. If she's had a psychotic break in the end (which is what happens when I do what she does and ignore all my shit), what does that say about how she was treated by her supposed family as opposed to how her new one is treating her? She wasn't supported or even liked by anyone, all her friends think she's too much they don't even suggest she gets psychiatric help so they don't have to cope with her. It's very much, "there goes Dani again" even though her biggest fear was realised in her sister offing her parents, can she not just "get over it?" I hate people like that so fucking much I'm willing to excuse a protagonist getting them killed. There is nothing left for her if she ever went back home. She's a clean slate, my guess is she's intended to become a part of the cult who may or may not align herself with their values. She's got another 90 years (which she won't survive as she'll be expected to die at 72) to realise they're going to do to some other woman what they did to her. We don't need to know that part. We're only focused on that smile and what it entails, which depends entirely on how you identified with her from the outset.
I also thought the village decided to off Christian, it didn't fix with me that this is her choice, but really it isn't if she's been brainwashed into seeing him as a piece of shit. I hate him enough it didn't matter to me how he ended up there, but he's also not a bad person, just a douchy one. But if you've been surrounded by douchy guys all your life, it's hard to root for him. My overall take was this whole thing is the fictional end result of a couple not communicating their needs and wants in a healthy manner. Why else would they have been offering marriage counselling to the audience? And I don't think the old couple are cool with throwing themselves off the cliff, I more agreed with a person's right to die before they become too old to care for themselves, I don't want you pushing granny off a cliff, kids. I want to go when I want to go and I support the right for all of humanity to own that choice. There are a lot of subtleties this movie has which I missed completely, largely from me being so engaged with Dani's emotional journey and her vindication, I'm actively willing to let huge amounts of evil behaviour slide out of my own sense of cynicism towards people who don't maturely deal with their emotions, or the notion of death. If Dani hadn't been drawn so distinctly as she was, I might have been less engrossed with her and more aware of the sinister nature of the cult. Had I been there myself, (which by the way, you could never coax me out to a place like that even if it was entirely benign, you can barely get me on a plane to Europe anyway) I would've wanted to leave a lot sooner. I wouldn't have wanted to respect their community or engage with any ritualistic behaviour. Aster stated he wanted people leaving his film to feel uplifted by Dani's ending but I'm sure he knew how divisive it would be, that you're going to set off arguments in comment sections but it's getting people talking about the movie, either way. Hereditary is less easy to defend, the cult just gets their way, there's no escape for the son or the family. I think the uniqueness of Midsommar will make it entirely impossible to replicate or remake, same with Aster's other films. If you're leaving a movie like this not thinking about it on some level, then it's failed in achieving its goal.
I found a deleted scene where Dani opposes the ritualistic drowning of a child and prevents it, and she leaves telling Christian she thinks they should get out, meanwhile he's still thinking about himself and his thesis. He argues in favour of them staying to document this, she's seen through the bullshit and knows they're being duped. This reframes the entire film and the cult as being intentionally malignant and manipulative too early in the story. Meanwhile, Christian's pissed that Dani wants to go, she calls out that he doesn't love her (he doesn't) then they have a classic psych vs anthropology major battle of wits. (Accusing the psych girlfriend of using textbook words to define their relationships is actually a very tired trope). He decides she's still emotionally manipulating him and making him feel trapped. He walks off and she suddenly feels abandoned, and isolated to be at the whims of the cult. From that, all I can tell is Christian's just setting her up as the emotionally manipulative one. He's more supportive of the cult's rituals but he still selfishly agrees with for his own gains, he wants the glory of documenting the tribe and the credit that carries. She doesn't defend the death ritual after all, I interpreted her reaction as more bemused but ultimately accepting. She corners Christian into admitting he doesn't love her, he's too afraid to admit it's true, he's so desperate to get out without looking like the bad guy. He's treating her gifting him something as a demand for reciprocity and not simply a gift, now he has to look at his own behaviour and he's not willing to admit he fucked up. He walks away with the upper hand and she's left alone in confusion when she was actually acknowledging they were over and she was being too clingy. He's all, I have work to do, she's trapped there either way. The cult needs to isolate and sow discord between them so his betrayal is more painful to Dani. However, this scene has too much impact on the situation. I think it's more subtly conveyed with the number of small near fights and little tiffs they have over how they feel about one another. Others wish it was there to justify why Christian is a huge manipulating piece of shit and deserves some kind of comeuppance. I know their relationship is the theme of the story much less than the notion of cults and ritualistic behaviour, that's a backdrop to the drama of Dani's inability to grieve within the confines of an emotionally abusive relationship with a person who's too chicken to end it. He's so obsessed with being painted the bad guy he'll fuck with her emotions before letting her have that. She seems much more settled with the idea they could be over meanwhile he's refusing to come to the table and reach an amicable end thinking she's going to make sure everyone knows he left her. Their trust has utterly disintegrated by this point. But rightfully, Dani is the one actually keeping it together and being objective about the danger they're in, Christian's the blinded idiot who's fallen for everything. He even says he mistakenly told their friend Josh about his decision to do his thesis and now he's competing with him instead. I find it kind of hilarious he's supposed to be working yet we never see him make notes, whereas Josh is diligently writing everything down, he's later punished for taking pictures. The cult are fully aware of their intentions and exploit them accordingly, which is where we question whether it's necessary to disregard a culture's need for privacy in order to document their behaviour. The comments on this video are as divided as the audience was, either people want it to prove Christian deserves to die, or they want to leave it out so it's less obvious Dani's cottoned on to the cult's sinister nature. Someone was straight up mad it proves the argument Dani was brainwashed. I don't think the intention is for everyone to decide that, if you did fine, if you didn't, that's also okay. Let the movie be ambiguous, it's people's fear of ambiguity that ruins movies like this. It's part of the director's cut so now I'm kinda glad I didn't see it. Or maybe I'm not. Fuck, now I have to watch the actual director's cut.
I could go on about this fucking thing in so many ways, I kinda hate it got reduced to a horror movie about a cult and now less people see it as a simple drama of a doomed relationship. That they weren't trying to support survivors of cults and rather wanted to save people's relationships or make them examine them suggests that was the crux of the film. It's not supporting a cult mentality but it's presenting them differently to how we're accustomed. Everything's designed to make you question rather than blindly accept. It's not a conventional horror movie. Another comment said the horror of the film is the toxic relationship. That was my point, the horror for me is Dani drowning on dry land. If you think the horror is coming from the cult, that's not really the point. It makes me feel this movie only spoke to people who've understood and experienced toxic relationships and panic attacks. The cult is the test of that relationship more than anything. Maybe it convinced one person to leave their toxic relationship. I don't think it convinced anyone to actually want to join a cult where acceptance is conditional and performative.
