Ari Aster's MIDSOMMAR (2019)

as evidenced by her experience! Lmao jeez

Found the first 45 minutes or so effectively creepy--thought the rest alternated between lengthy dead patches and camp lunacy. Completely baffled by the last shot, and if there was some connection to the parents/sister, that went right by me too. But well done, Frankie Valli.

There's no literal connection between the cult and Dani's family tragedy, but the whole film is about her dealing with her trauma.

xp that's p much exactly how I felt about Hereditary, not so much Midsommar. Yeah I found the last shot a bit baffling too.

(x-post) I thought some more about that last night and eventually made the connection. So is it that she's smiling at the irony of her way being essentially the same as their way? Or that they need to add all this ritual and pageantry to arrive at the same point? Or...I still come up short. I guess there's some latitude there.

I thought she was smiling because she'd found a family

also because she finally realized her boyfriend sucked and he was... well, you know

I had quite a simple interpretation in cinema, that it was the first time she'd felt some kind of peace since the murder/suicide. I guess the whole experience was a cleansing for her, stripping away the detritus (notably Christian). I'd have to watch it again to expound that reading with much confidence though.

xpost - more or less the same

i thought she was smiling because after a long period of despair she felt momentarily happy
why she was happy isn't really for us to know, but it's clear she felt a stab of happiness and that brings relief for her and us

momentary relief, since the actual situation is quite dire

I'm looking forward to rewatching this at home.

i am looking forward to watching director's cut at home!

xp agreed that it's probably good not to read too much into it! it's her first real smile in the film

It’s the first time she’s been able to (1) have some sort of control over her life, (2) let’s not pretend vengeance doesn’t feel good, (3) we’re shown over and over the way she suppresses her emotions every time they come up—every time her trauma’s triggered, she has to run away to be alone and force it back down. The women of the village gave Dany her first ever opportunity to sit in her grief and confront it head on, with support—although it’s ultimately rerouted into violence. There’s major catharsis for her in all this.

There’s major catharsis for her in all this.

Mirroring the audience's journey perhaps?

I thought she smiled because she was free to accept/be accepted into the group, into communal emotion.

It reminded me of "Irreversible" told in reverse, beginning with a terrible violence and ending with a bucolic little bonfire in a field

From the beginning of the film, decisions have been presented as an overwhelming burden for her and now she is completely relieved of that -- they've even removed the burden of deciding when and how to breathe.

/There’s major catharsis for her in all this./

Mirroring the audience's journey perhaps?

But maybe that experience is just informed by how much of a tension release the last moments of Hereditary is, compared to Midsommar.

This was completely predictable from jump and yet a lot of fun to watch. Often hilarious. "The Golden Bough" + A24 aesthetic make for odd bedfellows but I dug it. Also, Florence Pugh is a force of nature. One of the great young actors out there, imho.

I think the predictability was part of the point. The plot is telegraphed throughout, even from the opening scene, so hard the fun is being a few steps in front of the characters in a 'oh no don't go down in the basement' sort of way. Read a good article the other day about the use of yellow in this film to connote death and danger

Catching this on DVD soon. After reading this Esquire article, will be freeze framing periodically. Haven't seen anyone mention it itt, so maybe some'll check the movie again.

I noticed a couple things like that but they’re subtle enough they’re overwhelmed in a first viewing by all the goings-on!

I noticed faces etc. here and there - given the hallucinogenic influence on the film that's not surprising. But I would guess that it, like Hereditary, rewards multiple viewings. Still a month for DVD here I think?

I don't know if anyone else feels the same way but to me the events on the ending only make sense symbolically. The fire represents the breakup and the villagers reactions represent the internal turmoil going on in Dani's head. Then the smile comes after the realization that it she finally feels free and that it was clearly all for the best. It symbolized her letting go.

After all, Aster has been saying over and over that this is a breakup movie, yet at no point is there an actual break up scene, so the fire must be it.

It's interesting to think about, but I don't think my reading needs a symbolic interpretation of the fire or the villagers' reactions. The movie is definitely about Dani navigating her breakup, but I don't think it's symbolic of her letting go--I think it's literally her getting catharsis from burning her ex in a bear suit in a pyramid.

she also lost her entire family in a single shocking violent act
she has a lot going on!

I'm fine with taking it at face value. Though I can understand the impulse to try to do that when faced with some of the more surreal moments, I personally don't feel like the story is too fantastical to withstand a literal interpretation -- and definitely not compared to other horror movies. The experience the creators convey is the same whether the audience takes it that way or not, I think. I've seen it twice, both versions, and I still don't really know if I could explain why the final scene feels so right. I don't know if I get it intellectually, but I "get" it on an emotional level if that makes any sense.

so is anyone going as May Queen + Bearsuit for Halloween

I went as the hippie religious nut from Us

i saw three separate bear-dani combos on various social media this weekend

was specifically thinking of her big mountain-o-flowers outfit at the end but it's too late for me and my wife to pull it off

that was the exact outfit i saw 3x

haha
great minds think alike :)

I would absolutely love to do that, but I've really nowhere to go for Halloween. Maybe no one needs to know that and I can just float around on the underground

You can be the May Queen but I'll be the strapping Swedish chap who wins her affections

You will be the bear

Or maybe we can dress as the old pair who off themselves. Gore effects and mallet optional

All we need is matching blue pyjamas

:O

We even have goblets!

I know a couple who did the Bear/Flowers dual costume, and saw a bonus photo of a friend who dressed her cat and dog up as flower pile + bear. Luckily it will be cold on Halloween so the costumes won't be unbearably hot (heh).

Sadly another friend of mine saw the movie and she hated it! She said Dani was selfish and annoying.

Hot take there, lol

more like an icy cold take

yikes

I mean the argument with douche boyfriend about him not telling her about Sweden shoulda been enough to put her in the "emotionally manipulated" category but hmm, some people think it's her fault apparently. Ok.

the only thing she really lacks is the self-confidence to assert her needs, but after seeing how her concerns are trivialized from the _very start_ by her dick boyfriend, it seems like more a function of her youth and clinging to the one guy who is a constant after tragedy strikes

if her family hadn't died at the very beginning, she might have dumped his ass by the time the rest of the movie took place! instead she's clinging to the dude who was like "oh, you're sister is nuts and you can't keep responding to her. everything's probably fine"

Yeah I didn't really know how to respond so I just dropped it.

like many o_O comments, it reveals the commenter's bias rather than adding anything interesting to the discussion (calling someone annoying is always like that too)