Blog 4 - Midsommar

 blog - 4 Midsommar

Ari Aster is an American film director, producer and also screenplay writer. Ari is very known for creating, writing and producing horror films, althought the person that came up with all of the ideas for the movie midsommar is Albert Brooks. The movie midsommar and all of the thought that went into it actually based off of a real-life Swedish festival, however the festival wasnt associated with all the violent and cult activities that had occurred in the movie. Ari created countless horror movies that you may already know and that are very popular, like Herediatry that came out the 8 of june 2018 and soon he is going to come back with a new movie (Beau is Afraid). Ari Aster was born july 15th, 1986, he was also born into a jewish family, Ari was raised as the son of a famous poet as a mother and great musisian as a father. Midsommar is a horror film but it also enters in the genera of thriller and mystery, and maybe for some people it might even be disturbing or uncomfortable to watch. 

The famous film stars Florence Pugh and Jack Peynor they are the main acters in this movie and the most seen throughout the film, To start its a two and a half hour movie, the movie starts off with Florence Pugh who is also known as Dani is the film who is trying to get over her emotions and trama of a Toxic relationship with Jack Peynor who is also known as Christian in real life. To begin, Dani gets a very wierd annymous email from her sistter named Terri that says “I can’t anymore, everythings black, mom and dad are coming too.. Goodbye.” This unknown email has left Dani confused and scared she dosent know what the word (goodbye) meant, she tries to call Terri back, but unfortunately Dani has been sent to voicemail even after sending three emails back, no responce, she is getting sent to voicemail by everyone she is trying to contact including her boyfriend Christian. Altought Christian eventually awnser but he seems unintrested because he is with some friends trying to enjoy his night but Dani asks him to come over later that night to talk about her bipolar sister that has gone missing again. 

After talking to Christian she gets back on the phone with one of her girl friends they dont state her name, but Dani tells her everything about Christan and his tone in his voice and how he seemed uninterested in her, she thinks shes just scaring him off at that point. Afterwards, out of nowhere Dani gets an unknown call, that then tells her about the suicide of Terri along with the tragic murder of her parents, Dani is in diebelif, shes crying histaricly screaming at the top of her lungs no, no, no, no, no!! on the phone with Christian, he comes over that night to comfort her because she was going trought a tough time.

The next day, Christian brings Dani to a party to try and maybe get her mind off things, about what happend last night, christians friends mention that they might be going to Sweden, Christian says hes not going exept he already has a ticket, they get home and they start fighting because Dani dosent want him to go, but he really does and so does his friends, the  whole situation makes Christian uncomfortable. Christian then asks Dani to come to Sweden with him, but he has a diffrent idea in mind he just told her that to “not make it look bad” he dosent actually want her to go with him and he says she is not even thought he told her she could. A couple days later, they all leave for Sweden including Dani and all of Christians friends its about a four hour drive there so they had a long ways to go.

All throughout the movie we see Dani’s physiological and emotional state progrecevly get worse as the film goes on. They arrive to Sweden and they are introduced to one of Christans friends “family, brothers and sisters”. Christian’s friend pulls out a bag of some mystirous mushrooms, everyone take a little and eats them even thought Dani dosent really want to she does anyway, they start hallucinating and acting different, Dani starts to feel the nature while the others are talking she starts to feel uneasy looking at all the people she had never seen before, she runs into the forest and next thing you know she woke up in the middle of a field the next day. With this in mind, Christians friend that gave them the mushrroms takes them on a hike trought the forest, to a viliage where all the “brothers and sisters” live witch include many children, they are all dressed in white, witch is also where things start to progressively get weirder. This is where Dani relises what she has walked into witch is a cult the cult of Hårga’s traditions. However, as the days go on Dani starts to get accustome to the cult because they are being so nice, kids giving her drawings and flowers to her treating her like the queen the center point she finally felt at peace after everything that happend. Especially, when they showed Dani and the other the beautiful parts of the cult like the creativity and the nature, except they didnt know what they were really signing up for.

On the other hand, the “family” the cult preforms the first cult ritual, witch is when the elders of the cult jump off off a clift onto rocks, while the rest of the group had to stand back and watch this all occur, Dani’s shock and fear fades into acceptance when she sees this with her own eyes, while Christian and the others panic in confusing asking themselfs why they are doing this. In other words, the cult believes that preforming this ritual will not kill the elders but send them into the better place and how it was their time. At this point in the film they show a close up on Dani’s face with absolutely no expression one o ever after the ritual, as countless more ritual occur through the nine days that they were supposed to be there, more unknown drugs are given to the main characters and to everyone who is asociated with the cult even the kids to be able to see (thier way), this is when you can really see that Dani is starting to really become one of the cult members and really getting to know and too see what they do and believe in. 

 

In conclusion, in the last montage of the film, there is one more ritual preformed the most “impotant” the sacrifice of being burned in the triangular house, in this scene Dani is standing in front of a maoning and screaming croud of cult members all dressed in white, Dani’s fear and horror turns into a large smile. Neverthless, the last seane in the movie can be understood as how Dani might of found her sence of peace and a family whom can take care of her after losing her own and helps her carry her burrden of her parents muder and her sisters suicide, or it could simply mean that Dani has officially lost her marbles considering she was smiling as the cult was preforming the sacrifice ritual on her boyfriend Chirstian who is being burned alive screaming for his life.