MIDSOMMAR: A look into the Film.

Everyone that knows me, knows I love horror movies and gives any recognition to creative writing and directing. I recently downloaded the 120 page Script to the New Cult horror movie, MIDSOMMAR.

The ending left me with my jaw dropped and could not get the images out of my head with the great detail that was put into the script. But in my review I am going to try and paint a picture without giving away every detail to the story.

Like any other horror film or any film at that matter has a slow build up or development of each character so you learn to care when something goes terribly wrong in their life.

The main Character is a woman called Dani; she goes through a tragedy in the beginning of the film and in the same time her Boyfriend Christian is falling out of love with her and wants to end the relationship. After Christian finds out the bad news, he then expresses that he wants to go to this Swedish festival with his buddies with Dani not invited.

Christian somehow decides to not break it off with Dani and invites her to this Swedish village to experience this traditional festival. Not long after the couple’s arrival, their trip unfolds into a hallucinogenic terror and is targeted by the sinister leaders of this pagan Cult who run the traditional festival.

Let’s take a look into the film and try to pick up on some clues that will reveal the plot and how it will mostly like have us predicting the ending. My favorite Part while watching a film is picking on all the director hints and clues to revealing the big ending & this film has one ! Writers and directors actually take the time to place symbolic hints in the film so when the ending does happen it is all pieced together. Unfortunately only a few viewers will have the interest to care and to look at the background and piece symbolic music or clothing, colors, symbols that basically tell you where the story is going before it is revealed straight on.

What does Midsommar mean?

The word Midsommar is Swedish and means Midsummer in English.

The Swedes consider Midsummer as a holiday for the Summer Solstice that is usually celebrated the third or fourth week of June, which is really when summer begins.

Astronomers and meteorologists follow the earth’s position in relation to the sun, marking the Summer Solstice as the longest day of the year. Now this Festival in the film is to take place every 90 years for 9 days. The number 9 is a sacred number in Norse Mythology. 9 months being pregnant.

It is a representation of a fertility festival, with the flower crowns and wearing white in the trailer. Also notice that the younger fertile girls wear the wreaths and not the older women.

There are a lot of images that are shown throughout the film, such as naked women holding torches in the sea, typical pagan elements – fire, water, earth. Also the May pole in the movie known as the mid-summer pole that represents the male penis and the women dancing around the pole wearing flowers is another connection to fertility.

It is shown in the trailer that the back packers inhale a smoke substance; I am assuming that this is some type of homemade hallucinogen. The women in the trailer say to the screen “this will open you up and move your defenses. Possibly a substance that was given to the back packers to make vulnerable and easy to control.

The villagers are now dissecting a bear in the trailer; at times the pagans would sacrifice animals. In this film I have a feeling a lot of sacrificing will be taking place. Both voluntarily and forced sacrifices.

There is also a disfigured woman that randomly pops up in the trailer.

Now this cult needs to reproduce and grow but with inbreeding, disfigurement can be an outcome with genetic complications. The cult starts deciding to bring new comers to their festival every 90 years so they have new blood in their gene pool. After using the men to pregnant the women, they then sacrifice them or so I assume.

Also take notice that pretty much the entire film takes place during daylight, which makes a horror movie more disturbing in my eyes.

Several different Interviews with Ari Aster drop the hints about a story with a woman who destroys a cult. Also has said that this film is an apocalyptic break up movie.

Jordan Peele quotes that this new film is “the most idyllic horror film of all time.” He stated the film is “unique” and “Atrociously disturbing.” –River Donaghey Vice.com

After reading the script I say that it is one of a kind and was visually creative from beginning to end. The images that were described in the script made me cringe and I am a person who enjoys Horror films and gore, but the ending scene of this film made me want to throw up. I didn’t even watch it yet, but just reading it and picturing it in my head, made me gag! My jaw dropped at several scenes, Ari Aster has pushed the envelope on this film and there were no boundaries as to what you can show being done on film.

This film will definitely have a psychological feel to it with a disturbing twist that will have all our jaws dropping, probably leave us in the theater in silence, glued to our chairs in confusion to what we just watched happen.