Ari Aster is a highly inventive horror filmmaker known for his lurid imagery and emotional realism. Midsommar, inspired by a real Swedish holiday festival, explores the horrifying aspects of the human experience.

Is Midsommar based in truth?

Midsommar, the movie, is partially based on the real midsummer festival celebrated in Sweden, but includes violent and pagan cult activities not found in the actual tradition.

What was Midsommar inspired by?

Aster has mentioned 1981 Albert Brooks film Modern Romance as an inspiration for Midsommar, and also called it "The Wizard of Oz for perverts". Aster worked with the film's production designer Henrik Svensson to develop the film's folklore elements and the traditions of the Hårga, while visiting Hälsingland together.

What the heck was Midsommar about?

Midsommar is a twisted tale about the importance of empathy, shared emotion, and finding family in unexpected places. The film explores the toxic dynamics of Dani's crumbling relationship and how Christian fails to provide empathy and support.

Is Midsommar based on a real village?

Although there is a town called Hårga in central Sweden, the village shown in the film is fictional. Hälsingland is a region with a rich history, featuring museums that display violent depictions of ancient rituals from centuries ago.

True Story Behind Festival Featured in 'Midsommar' Film

Are the hårga real?

Seriously, plug it into Google and you'll find satellite images of the locale, seemingly rural, but not overtly occupied by a cheerily sinister community with a penchant for psychedelics. Hårga is indeed real, but the Hårga people, insofar as Aster conceived of them for his movie, are not.

Why does Dani smile at the end of Midsommar?

The Power of Manipulation Throughout Midsommar

In the end, Dani smiles at the memory of her past being set aflame, and we can't help but relate to the cathartic moment. Why? We shouldn't feel pressured to feel as if the perspectives presented are entirely right or wrong.

Why is Midsommar so disturbing?

Parents need to know that Midsommar is an extremely violent horror movie from the maker of Hereditary. It involves a sinister, ages-old ceremony that includes disturbing rituals. Characters are beaten and smashed, and bodies are cut up and burned (in some cases, alive). A character dies via suicide,…

What does the bear symbolize in Midsommar?

Bears in Swedish culture represent evil and dishonesty. Christian's evil and dishonesty throughout the film is punished by him literally taking on the skin of a bear, and being sent to Hell. This is a horror movie, but the way it looks is very non-traditional to the genre.

What parts of Midsommar are real?

Some of the midsummer traditions in Midsommar are rooted in reality— dancing around a giant maypole, and wearing flowers in one's hair. But some of the more sinister activities are downright alarming, and it's hard not to wonder if they're concocted for the film.

What was so traumatizing about Midsommar?

The depiction of the cult's rituals, such as the Maypole Dance and the Copulation Ritual, are disturbing and filled with sinister undertones, highlighting the unsettling nature of the story.

What is Midsommar a metaphor for?

The cause-and-effect relationships between events in the movie feel suggested more than confirmed. The predominant read of Midsommar — one that Aster himself has more or less advanced — is that it's a metaphorical depiction of a relationship in crisis entering a tailspin and plummeting to the ground below.

Is Pelle in Midsommar evil?

Type of Villain

Pelle is the main antagonist of the 2019 psychological horror film Midsommar. He is from Halsingland, Sweden and a member of The Hårga.

What mythology is Midsommar based on?

A lot of what you're pulling from you've said, are from pagan influences and folk stories from Swedish history. MARTIN: We pulled from Sweden, northern Europe, some Viking stuff and some of our own fantasies. I'd say about four years or something like that.

What is the scariest part of Midsommar?

The Big Picture

Midsommar's most terrifying scene doesn't involve gore — it's the haunting murder-suicide scene at the beginning of the movie.

What does Sweden think of Midsommar?

Dagens Nyheter, one of Sweden's biggest dailies, described Midsommar as an "entertaining horror in a fantasy version of Sweden". "There is an exhilarating exoticism in Aster's film that has a specific entertainment value for Swedish spectators," it went on.

Is there a message behind Midsommar?

Midsommar is essentially a two-and-a-half-hour study of one woman's emotional journey towards emancipation from a toxic relationship. The film has a happy ending, more or less.

What is the R symbol in Midsommar?

The R looking rune in Midsommar is Raidho, which can mean journey or control, or growth or evolution. Overall, Raidho represents the life path of a person.

Who was hanging in the chicken coop in Midsommar?

After Christian sees Josh's foot in the garden, he seeks refuge in a small barn where he discovers Simon's body hanging from the ceiling. The skin on his back is peeled from his muscles and positioned to have the appearance of bird wings, which in line with the blood eagle method of execution and torture.

What is Dani's mental illness in Midsommar?

Dani suffers from a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. She witnesses a combination of hallucinations, delusions, and possesses an extremely disordered thinking and behavior that impairs daily functioning, and as a result she is induced into paranoid schizophrenia.

Is Hereditary or Midsommar scarier?

Both films are respected in the horror genre, but Hereditary was arguably the scarier and more entertaining movie. While Midsommar was somewhat repetitive, Hereditary had many unexpected twists and turns.

Why do they cry with her in Midsommar?

Midsommar's young women are practicing a sort of “Dani Pose” in their communal grief. By fully immersing themselves in her facial expressions, emotions, and feelings, they erase the separateness between Dani and them.

What is the moral of Midsommar?

She throws away her old life for the life of a May Queen. Ari Aster's Midsommar is nothing short of an exceptional horror fairytale that shows us the dangers of isolation and the importance of finding your place in the world, finding those that will accept you and make you feel seen.

Why was Josh killed on Midsommar?

Death. When he tried to take a photo of the village's sacred text, he was bludgeoned to death and had his leg placed in a garden by a man (most likely Ulf), wearing a skin mask of Mark's face, who was killed after urinating on a sacred tree.

What did Dani see in the keyhole?

She catches sight of the ritual through the temple's keyhole: Middle-aged naked women are writhing and singing around her boyfriend mid-coitus. One old woman goes as far as to push on his ass cheeks to intensify the thrusting. Dani, like any reasonable person, throws up immediately and flees to the sleeping quarters.