Midsommar wastes little time throwing us into the depths of a tragic and realistic scenario. The protagonist of Dani, played by Florence Pugh, is in a dark and unloving environment, cut off from everyone and left unable to have any control in a situation where she would obviously so badly want it. Pugh’s performance of anguish and desperation makes this the best scene of the film. While she in turn goes to her boyfriend Christian, played by Jack Reynor, for emotional support after the death of her family, this doesn’t bring fulfillment as she needs a lot and he was already somewhat checked out. While Christian is in the eyes of many unlikable, he is somewhat sympathetic as he clearly wants more from his life and doesn’t know what to do. It’s arguably honorable of him to not go through with breaking up with Dani after her family dies.
Other than the dynamic of Christian and Dani, much of what is set up in the opening scenes matters much less once they get to Sweden and meet the commune. The movie would basically still work if you started it with Christian, Dani, and their friends arriving in Sweden, though there is subtextual significance. Dani’s experiences with the “Hårga commune” could be seen as an exaggerated metaphor for dealing with grief and how one finds where to go after losing something of significance. While various moments of the film can be looked at as either Swedish folklore, very fictionalized Swedish folklore, or something to be ripped apart to derive a deeper meaning, a lot of what happens are simply horror tropes. The movie is here to creep you out.
Many of the characters that went to the commune with Dani and Christian are far less interesting and seem more like filler and something for the leads to play off of. They have essentially nothing to contribute to the story. The commune does spooky things just for the sake of it and at the ending there’s someone who simply explains some of the mysteries you may have had about the story. The slow build pacing seems to be moving towards a bigger ending, but we basically just end with that explanation and an admittedly important resolution of the Dani and Christian plot while not touching other aspects, like Dani’s family, Christian’s argument with his friend Josh, their desire to write a paper about the commune, and the inbred character, among other elements.
SPOILERS
We see less and less of Dani’s emotions, especially as she affiliates herself more with the commune. This is all covered in stages, like when she starts cooking with the girls and wearing a little of their white clothes, only to eventually completely adopt it. To take this as a metaphor for dealing with loss, after she jumped to Christian for support and didn’t feel she was getting it, she would understandably want something else. The commune not only accepted her, but provided empathy and support in her time of need. She is also escaping the drab and depressing scenery of modern life for a more organic and social one. Cults often recruit vulnerable people that have recently gone through something very negative. It doesn’t make sense that Dani would be so willing to go along with them, even the killings, but much of the movie is depicted with surreal and dreamlike hazes, like it’s not supposed to be taken at face value. She at points sees herself with grass growing off of her and by the end is covered in real flowers, like she is being taken over. Her being drugged could also be here to address this, possibly to provide for those wanting a “logical” explanation.
It is weird that Dani and company would be mostly tolerant of two elders jumping off a cliff publicly early on. Maybe you could say they were drugged to care less, but two of the people involved are clearly extremely upset by this and react more realistically? The audience seeing closeups of the deaths puts us in Dani’s mind. She just experienced death, so would this not deepen her trauma? Something about this scene that is brilliantly creepy is the explanation for this, that the elders are avoiding the suffering of old age and taking part in a rebirth. This does seem like the type of logic one might actually use to justify this, especially seeing as many don’t want to live to be very old. Dani’s tolerance is a bit more understandable this way as it’d be nice to think her family’s death is part of a great and natural thing.
Us seeing Christian’s perspective on things, like at the end where he is being used for his sperm, then runs around, sees the other character’s dead bodies, and gets killed himself can feel unnecessary, as this is Dani’s story. To tie it to Dani, she might see him as worth scorn due to him wanting to break up with her and then cheating. Before this climax, he is the only person not wearing white for a time, as if he’s a toxin to be expelled. Him dying represents her committing to this perceived solution to her trauma and leaving the last seen remnant of her life behind. Her choosing to kill him also finally gives her power, which can feel great to have even if you are not using it for a good reason. Christian earlier being alone nude can represent him losing his power and when a group of girls cry in unison with Dani, they’re giving her the support to feel stronger. This also shows that those that give you support in a time of need can very well manipulate you.
OVERVIEW
Midsommar doesn’t seem like it’d satisfy on a rewatch or even from one watch by someone who doesn’t want to look inside a movie. Many of my interpretations could very well be unintended, so the film is really just what you make of it. As it stands, you can’t deny the decent visuals and acting, even if sometimes the movie is focusing on something a little off topic.
The Filme Diary 