Hereditary and Midsommar Are Fatally Flawed

My frustration with Ari Aster has officially reached its limit, so it's time to talk about it.
check out my twitch: / meeptop
#Hereditary #Midsommar #meeptop #AriAster #horror #A24 #videoessay #filmanalysis #analysis
description tags: Ari Aster, A24, Midsommar, Hereditary, horror, film analysis, video essay, please don't hate me for this, suck, bad, good, amazing, critic, critique, beeg yoshi

[@tanvicherry4259]

I think the point of the director wanting us to root for Dani and choose to kill Christian was so we'd really fall for the idea of the cult being good to prove the point of cults in general. We and Dani are so focused on how bad of a person Christian is that it blinds to how terrible the cult is, mimicking the way cults work in real life: they target emotionally vulnerable people because they're the easiest to convert.

[@accidiaet]

I mean he didnt deserve to be burned alive he wasnt a terrible person just not a good guy I hated this movie

[@samsunggamer6661]

@@accidiaet That's the point. He didn't deserve to die, but the cult influenced her to act on emotion just like real cults. It amazes me that people think that this movie ends with a happy ending for women. Dani is obviously in the wrong, and the movie ends with a bad ending.

[@franciemcfrances9979]

Damn that's good, well said

[@pwabd2784]

@@samsunggamer6661 the way toxic men relate to characters like The Joker, toxic women miss the point of this movie and enjoy the ending.

[@samsunggamer6661]

@pwabd2784 every side of the argument is correct if they look at the few outliers. There's always going to be people that think the movie ends happily but there are way more people that recognize that she is in an even worse situation than she realizes

[@lisaleone2296]

In Midsomar, I don't think you have to buy their relationship, you have to buy that she "needed" him only because she lost her family.

[@leobellevue3848]

Exactly ! The fact the she keeps trying to stick the pieces back together in this weird relationship, despite him not caring at all, Show us that she would do anything to not be alone at that moment in her life.

[@stefanoraffo5096]

​@@leobellevue3848the problem is that she herself doesn't do anything on her end at any point. She just exists with him, even when he does a bad attempt at helping

[@leobellevue3848]

​@@stefanoraffo5096 Isn't that what happens when you feel like you have no options. She just lost both her parents and her sister. So at this point Christian is like her last piece of family. You don't see how traumatizing that is ? And add to that the fact that she is far from home, stuck in a strange cult where they do everything in their power to endoctrinate her (they even kill people who try to leave). Acting coherently in this situation is way harder then you think.

[@cc-gx8hr]

Yeah exactly I think it's about Dani's loneliness & lack of any community or support system. She's reliant on him bc she has literally nobody else, and later she believes her only hope of finding people who care about her is by joining the cult.

[@captainmarvelwilson508]

No one said you should buy the relationship, I just think the movie was not very good and communicated its message in such a contrived and pretentious way. Marriage Story was so much better in how it portrayed a break up and how both sides have their own merits and flaws. Bringing in this cult was just adding in so much unneeded shock and discomfort to the story and it just felt unnecessary.

[@emmytheshadow]

With midsommar, I always believed we were supposed to hold on to the point the Dani has no one else. As much as you hate the relationship, it would completely destroy Dani one last time if the only person she had left dumped her. It’s the feeling of wanting it to stay together until Dani can move on from her grief enough to find new people to hold on to.

[@saramaccormack5475]

yup ive been there

[@silashurd3597]

It’s ashamed that the cult made her think that Christian stopped being with her because they drugged him and R worded him. He might’ve been a jerk, but cmon, man didn’t deserve the fare he got

[@yourbabytee]

That would make sense but she has friends. She was on the phone with one in the beginning of the movie

[@JTonyArts]

@@yourbabytee I think it is pretty clear that in her depression after the fmdeaths of her family, her friends deserted her, unable to take the intensity, just as Christian and his friends were won’t to do.

[@mathiasschneider7690]

yes! and it was a good film. that ending which is shocking somehow makes sense.

[@castroh8r]

Honestly your criticisms are the strengths of these movies in my opinion. As far as midsommar goes, the tension of knowing the relationship is doomed from the start is depicting exactly what it’s like to look back at your failed relationship.

[@surrcram]

Well he did drop out of film school sooo

[@anaruz4818]

No

[@evey0259]

Agreed. It reads like someone who simply didn't pay attention to the movie.

[@inferiorinferno8859]

​@@surrcram Dropping out of film school says nothing, did you even go to film school? I study writing and personally I agree with a lot of his criticism like how the men are jerks to a cartoonish degree. They were flat characters who were simply cannonfodder to be killed off, even my mom noticed it and was annoyed by their existence. I get what Aster wants, make us hate the victims and be blinded by the cult to make a point about their manipulation. You can tell a good story without a huge message, but you cannot turn a message into a good story without characters as props. Even if Dani is dear to you, all the other props are as weak as a thin Made In China plastic headband. That's bad storytelling.

[@UltraAporia]

I feel similarly about Hereditary The knowledge that Joan raised her family just as sacrifices is horrific. All their pain and trauma was hopeless and predetermined

[@celestialshadows5725]

I watched Midsummer WITH the toxic person I was in a relationship with. I remember leaving the theater feeling really upset and even had nightmares about it (which has never happened to me after watching a horror film), and I didn't know why at the time. Then I realized that I was finally looking at my relationship from the eyes of people telling me to leave that person. I saw a lot of myself in Danny when it came to her behavior and her struggles with anxiety. The scene where she's begging Chris to stay with her after confronting him about Sweden, I literally experienced in my relationship so many times. Dropping my own needs so that I wouldn't be alone and anger the person I loved. Oof idk that movie will always stick with me.

[@olsonbryce777]

Same bro

[@CanelaAguila]

Oof, that's harsh. Glad you reached that point though!

[@AmericanGadfly]

It amazes me watch this movie and come away with the take that Danny was the toxic one. Let me help you in a way that it seems nobody else is. People who have serious mental issues, like Danny did, are actually toxic to the people around them that dont. Danny screaming for him to stay with her looks sad on its face, but its probably the 50th time that week shes made that same plea to him. Do you understand the weight that puts on mentally healthy people? Imagine a sponge, and every time she cried over nothing, pleaded for him to stay and did other similar toxic behaviour that sponge gets a little more filled up. "Normal" people find ways to wring out that spinge, but when theyre with someone who is CONSTANTLY in distress and CONSTANTLY in need of attention, they dont get to do that. How long until theyre just done? And why is that a bad thing? Christian isnt a psychologist, hes not a therapist, theres nothing requiring him to accept that sort of emotional abuse. And yes, danny was emotionally abusive. Unfortunately, our society has twisted the word toxic, so that these days if you dont cater to every whim that mentally unhealthy people have, youre the toxic one. Its bs. If you relate to Danny, please get help.

[@k33k32]

let me know if you need help stuffing your toxic ex into a bear skin...i'm here for you

[@deadeyedblack2350]

Same

[@mischr13]

I grew up in a cult and lost my brother to suicide (when we were both still kids). I've never seen a more accurate depiction of what those experiences were like than Midsommar...let alone in one movie

[@smarti1144]

I hope you're doing OK.

[@ladya3302]

Damn, girl. I’m sorry.

[@Nirax3]

I hope you can find real love and slowly leave this behind you

[@HeatherHolt]

Holy shit… I’m so sorry. I hope you’ve gotten some helpful therapy bc I can’t imagine having to go thru one or the other but both is completely fucking heavy. I wish you all the good things in life ❤❤❤

[@samsung4360]

Never thought this would be the selling point for me to finally watch that movie, but hey the Fate is always twisted.

[@thegamejunky7223]

I watched Hereditary by myself in my house in the dark. By the end I had my mouth agape and never seen a horror movie that made me feel that type of way. Idc if it’s flawed. It was an amazing experience.

[@KorenJoy]

Same. I've never seen horror movie that made me curl my toes, tremble, or want to scream out loud. Horrifying. And especially that sweet, sweet twist at the end. Like with midsommar, I almost felt relief at the end. Charlie was back, Peter was "safe", and the assailants had what they wanted. Except what they wanted was for the king of unspeakable suffering to be incarnate on Earth.

[@donaldhysa4836]

Come on dude it wasn't that great lol

[@thegamejunky7223]

@@donaldhysa4836 It just hit at the right time for me I guess

[@donaldhysa4836]

@@thegamejunky7223 Read some Junji Ito mangas

[@jannikala2300]

Same, it was the first time I had to stop a movie ( after Charlie's death) to think about what tf just happened, I was genuinely horrified, especially by the behavior of the brother and the mother discovering her body the next day... It felt soo creepy and real

[@loz9324]

anyone who says "i didnt like that the ending of hereditary was supernatural" didn't play close attention to the rest of the movie or only watched one time. The supernatural stuff is a BIG part of the WHOLE movie.

[@GeneralFang252]

I saw all the supernatural elements and ended up calling the twist, but it was so fucking obvious I thought it would fake me out. That’s my bad, but I was still pretty disappointed when it got to the ending. It was like all the momentum and the curiosity crashed into a wall and now we’re watching a demon summoning. Cool. I’m glad other people like it because it was a beautiful catalyst for an evolution of the genre, but I was hoping for something more like the Babadook where the supernatural elements were more of a manifestation of all the tension and turmoil the family was experiencing and it just being real feels like it cheapens the real world experiences and feelings that I just spent the whole movie caring about because it was all being puppeteered by demon worshippers who are horrible at staying hidden. Side note: while I agree with his opinions on Hereditary, I disagree about Midsommar, that shit’s GOATed

[@matthewwarner4119]

Is the twist that it was supernatural or that the family had 0 agency in the entire film? I look at hereditary as a modern version of a greek tragedy where the character is unable to do anything to their fate and taking steps to run away from it merely brings it into existence.

[@Poppy-RoseTaylor]

@@GeneralFang252ye but it’s not really a twist, it’s just completing what was set up in the whole movie. i personally think hereditary is far batter than midsomar, the attention to detail in hereditary is just astounding, subtle uses of colour theory and background characters that signify the presence of a demon or cult members is amazing. so you aren’t smart because you saw the “plot twist” coming because it was set up in a way for you to figure it out as you watched it, it all just came to a front at the end. also, i don’t like him saying it’s just rosemary’s baby because so many movie use the demon/cult idea to make a horror movie and it’s unfair to say one is copying another.

[@MROJPC]

Indeed. Pretty lazy criticism.

[@Gideon.schwerter]

I like that she is flat. Trauma does that to you. You're 24/7 living in between worlds (the present and the PTSD symptoms) and you lose yourself, your personality, everything. You're just sad and jumpy and scared all the time and unable to make any kind of decision because you know you're not in a place to make life altering moves, even if you hate where you are. You're miserable but miserable Is "safe".

[@oof2073]

wait. why are you so good at explaining my situation.

[@user-qf3hx6gr6e]

She's relatable lol

[@error-try-again-later]

...well, that's scarily reminiscent.

[@emmi7883]

But does that make for a good film? Toni Collette was certainly traumatized and she was anything but flat.

[@alim.9801]

"Miserable is safe" good lord, with that one statement i think you've captured a lot of peoples' experiences my friend

[@KrashyKharma]

I think you're missing something important about Midsommar, which is that, yes, their relationship is garbage and that's clear the whole time, but *people do stay in relationships like this*. You spend the whole movie waiting for one of them to just accept and admit that it needs to be over, and at the end you're in the fucked up position of having the catharsis of it finally ending being the result of her seeing over his immolation and her absorption into a cult as her being "free" from it. Their terrible relationship is the (well, one of, and the primary remaining) reason she gets pulled in. She goes from being absolutely disgusted by these people to presiding over their ritual because she sees sacrificing him as her freedom. It's about how hard it is (for some people) to let themselves get out of abusive and toxic relationships; until she was sucked into a cult she was never able to finally escape that cycle of accepting that shitty relationship over and over, and maybe she never would have. I have a lot of women friends who repeatedly dive into cycles of abuse like this and have so much self loathing and disconnection that they keep staying until it's unbearable, so to me, the fact that it took being crowned in a death cult to finally give her the strength to move on from that obviously horrible relationship is extremely poignant. I see now I'm not the only person who's made this point lol

[@DrGregoryHouseIT]

Sadly, she didn't even move on. She just exchanged one abuser for another.

[@KleeAvery]

People who only knew how to be in a toxic environment do not know how it is to be out of it. It's sad but it's true that this had become their comfort blanket.

[@cim6205]

Absolutely agree. I bet a lot of us have dated someone like Christian. Being with someone who is manipulative and gaslights you is very confusing. It's hard to leave

[@docsaico]

PERFECTLY said! 👏🏻🔥

[@dionysusyphus]

Damn both ya'll just articulated exactly the two (rather unconscious still as I've seen Midsomer twice n intially was using it for aesthetic inspiration/demostration for work) most poyaint intuitions about this, regardless, conceptually brilliant film. I'm there are so many others who still appreciate film on all the subtle levels the artist very idiosyncratically and even unconscious-Archetypally birthed into these transcendent experiences they so tediously poured themselmselves into.

[@Magnumscrotus]

Im not understanding why the occult reveal at the end of hereditary is just bad. Its woven through out the movie and the real pleasure of rewatching is seeing how he plots all of the details perfectly along the way.

[@CPNTT]

Exactly. It's deeply rooted in demonology right from the start. I recognized the necklaces at the grandmother's funeral, knew they were demonic sigils of some kind and I loved seeing all the signs throughout the movie. The demon does not diminish in any way the family's grief and general dynamic. It amplifies it: they're all grieving dolls in a dollhouse, fighting meaninglessly against an inevitable doom. I really don't get most of the criticism in this video.

[@fidelkva4810]

I also think it’s disturbing how, at the end, the family members were pretty much «lost» and they were perhaps starting to realize it. it has a depressing feel, it’s different to rosemary’s baby. i don’t fully agree with this video.

[@tihollis]

@@CPNTTagree. I like the occult stuff, made it actually interesting. Watching a movie about family grief can be good ig but this makes it 10x more interesting. He acts like he used the demon as a cop out or something. I guess I’m confused, how would you even end it otherwise to make it all have a point or mean anything?

[@cesiluzherrera5342]

I guess it has to do with people not being up for rewatching movies and expecting the experience to be complete after only one view, when a lot of movies benefit from being watched more than once. Hereditary specially is the type of movie that one can't fully comprehend unless they rewatched it, but apparently that's something a bunch of the audience isn't keen on doing.

[@idontsm0ke]

​@@cesiluzherrera5342 rewatching hereditary is so rewarding cuz u see many details that you didn't even see the first time

[@hanna4918]

For me, the supernatural plot in Hereditary is still a metaphor for mental illness, how it can consume you and make you a different person, essentialy just like Paimon controlling the family members

[@thisdamnguyagain4450]

i think the most terrifying thing is that mental illness and true supernatural experiences are identical to the observer who was not present. like those cases where people say they saw a lizard person like 99,99 percent you know they’re effin crazy but what if that ,0001 percent is true and they really did

[@jingleballs9935]

Yep

[@alim.9801]

That reading of it rings the most true at least for me

[@alexxx4434]

Or about the horrors of hereditary in general, inheriting all the terrible shit from the ancestors, starting from bad genes, traumas and traits, ending with societal systemic issues at large. The film lets you feel it through the fictional lens.

[@bethanywallace8575]

Generational trauma ?

[@Bonpu]

I did not miss any multilayeredness in Christian's character, quite the opposite: I doubt the film would even work with him being overly sympathyzable. He isn't even a true villain, he is just a mediocre selfish coward. Yet he grabs our attention and disdain so fully, that we consider the only true villain in the movie - the serene, cunning, wire-pulling Pelle - a worthwhile alternative or even a saviour. And we even consider siding with Dani and her bloodthirsty "family" when Christian is immolated as a literal scapegoat (scapebear?) for the community's unfathomable evil. We consider Dani "liberated" when she has irreversibly sacrificed her only true need: genuine self-love, independence and the power to stand up for herself. To me Midsommar is a masterpiece on how the avoidance of ambiguity, moral uncertainty and genuine independence make us susceptible to ideological (including fascist) indoctrination. We want the darkness contained while we hallucinate purity - just like the sun never sets on Hårga.

[@meeptop]

I definitely think this is an incredibly thoughtful analysis and this is what I wish I could've taken away from the film. I think I'd be more receptive to this interpretation if Ari Aster presented the film with more character depth and layers toward the beginning of the film, then have it boil down to the simplistic as we make our way to the tragic ending. It's entirely a personal thing, obviously, but the way the film is presented just doesn't equate my emotional experience to this viewpoint. Either way though, I think this is an excellent take and I'm genuinely glad you were able to have that experience!

[@Bonpu]

​@@meeptopThank you. I don't think there is just one interpretation or a clear message to the movie. And I wouldn't consider mine the most important. Of course it makes sense to look at it as a breakup drama, a personal growth story, a surreal phantasy or maybe even a sarcastic teenage horror parody. What makes the film so disturbing is someone trying to do the right thing in an environment where literally everybody and everything is clearly wrong or pretense - a mere conspiracy. We might cling to shallow feelings of justice, revenge and liberation but in the end they are just as delusional as the main character's views.

[@berby2068]

Exactly! This movie to me is about white supremacy and the banality of evil as much as it’s about the catharsis and grief of a codependent relationship ending. I also think the characters are flat because it’s really meant to be a fable/fairy tale.

[@strawberriefire]

I don't think I picked up on Pelle's manipulation the first time I watched midsommar, it wasn't until I watched it a second time a few years later with more life experience to sus that kind of thing out. It's so heart wrenching and scary to see a person so vulnerable and in need of genuine support like Dani go through what she does knowing that no one there has her best interest in mind, yet are able to manipulate her into believing they do for their own desires

[@JC-yy8iv]

@@Bonpu this comment kind of makes me wonder if perhaps he shouldn’t have tried combining his “anatomy of a breakup” movie and his “the mechanisms of fascist indoctrination” movie. I wonder what we’d have gotten if he hadn’t

[@auntiefish4192]

See I rather like the way Midsommar manipulates you into wanting that ending. How throughout the entire thing you are being made to sympathise with Dani, and being shown what an awful person Christian is, that when she makes the choice at the end you are cheering her on (or at least I was). And then you’re confronted with the reality of what that means like, “yeah, he’s a dick, but did he really deserve this nightmarish fate?”

[@SantosAl]

This is why I found the film so interesting, I was completely surprised that people wanted Christian dead. I'm not sure whether it was me being male, my age or my personal experiences with someone with a codependent personality, but I felt kinda bad for Christians situation; even though he handled it horribly. I remember I watched it through that lens afterwards and was completely horrified by how alluring the Cult suddenly became.

[@kendallholland6842]

@@SantosAl It is interesting. Usually in movies I’m kinda tricked into rooting for the protagonist (shut up and dance black mirror episode ruined me lol) so I definitely fell into that my first viewing. At the end I almost felt hopeful for Dani… like that’s not good but I definitely find it interesting that I was manipulated into to thinking that. I really only focused on her throughout the first viewing and kinda emphasized with her but damn yeah once I thought about more critically and watched it multiple times I was like oh no yeah that sooo bad. The whole point was indoctrinate Dani and manipulate make her feel like she’s free from this relationship. Like making her think he cheated on her but really the cult basically SAed him. She’s the perfect target for a cult victim. But yeah I can’t stop feeling bad for Christian at the same time. It’s a really complicated situation like her family is dead that’d be “rude” to leave her 😅 but like they both don’t seem to actually like each other she’s just got no one else. Sorry long comment and lots of run on sentences I wrote this fast lmao

[@pizzapizza6722]

I never really understood why people wanted Christian to die. The guys a pice of shit imo but in the ending it was clear he was raped but Dani didn’t see it that way which is why I don’t blame her. But we as an audience did so I never really understood why he was SOO hated

[@OWlsfordshire]

It really only works on mentally ill female viewers (which there are a lot of). Most normal people can acknowledge that the boyfriend is an asshole without believing he needs to meet that fate.

[@gzapray7203]

And this is what I find Midsommar to be most disgusting: how people easily manipulated despite the obvious red flags and how they are looking to someone who gives up her autonomy to the people who will not hesitate to destroy her, no need to kill her to do that.

[@Adventuresabroad_sa]

I totally get a lot of what you're saying about Midsommar, but I also feel like you're missing a few things. When watching Midsommar, I felt like Dani had a fear of being alone, especially after what she went through. I don't think she wanted to go through that alone. It's made evident that Dani wants someone to lean on, and while she recognizes that Christian might not be that, she's been so gaslit into thinking that her emotions are too much and that she shouldn't lean as much as she does. I also felt like the story was more of a comparison between her relationship with Christian and her relationship with the cult. Dani is emotionally vulnerable, and the cult gave her the support she craved. It's obvious manipulation to us, but to Dani, it's like family; they support each other, lean on each other, and acknowledge her emotions. I think the ending was also a bit misinterpreted. I don't think it's so much about just getting out of a toxic relationship. I think it's more about how susceptible you become to manipulation when grieving and finding the support you longed for after you didn't have it for a long time. In the end, she traded in one toxic relationship for another one, and that's what really hit hard for me.

[@335chr]

thats the problem her emotions are too much and she wasn't and still isn't doing anything to address them

[@bubullibooooo9928]

​@@335chrThere is no way to address grief.

[@335chr]

@@bubullibooooo9928 bullshit There are plenty of ways to address grief. There is no time table to deal with grief

[@bubullibooooo9928]

@@335chr You couldn't even name one! 🤣

[@335chr]

@@bubullibooooo9928 you didn't ask me to name one

[@barrycline6374]

If the supernatural elements weren’t in hereditary. It’d be a dramatic tragedy. It really wouldn’t be horror anymore

[@perryjones7771]

And Toni would have won that Oscar

[@skaughtsmith]

Exactly what I was thinking. It would just be really depressing. Without the ending there isn’t any horror element.

[@dylangintherofficial]

Depends how you see horror as a definition

[@zd91]

The supernatural elements were awful and comical.

[@Beardymanlol]

​@@zd91what kinda take is this? Unless you're just a hater of supernatural plots

[@violeternstberger7959]

I think the point of their relationship in midsommar is that you shouldn’t be rooting for the relationship at all, Dani should not be with him, he has no redeeming qualities he’s an ass and she should hate him, but he’s the only person she has left so she just can’t let it go. It’s less she wants to be with him and more she has to been with him. She can’t lose him because she’s lose EVERYTHING else, so she’s gonna overlook every single thing he does. She doesn’t love him she doesn’t like him, she needs him to not leave her and because of that she can’t fully state or recognize his shitty behavior. I think as a viewer it’s good to completely hate him and not see a single redeeming quality because it makes you question why she’s with him and then realize it’s because she needs him and cannot even imagine being alone, and when she has a “family” in the end she finally realizes she no longer needs to be with him.

[@lillietheoneandonly]

THIS

[@shrutiwayne7440]

Excuse me but those problems are her own with him, she could leave him too? Why kill him? He was totally manipulated, assaulted and then paralyzed and he was the best guy but didn't deserve to be killed the way he got.

[@Zarastro54]

@@shrutiwayne7440 She killed him because she too was manipulated and drugged up to the point of a mental break. Under normal circumstances, the break up would have been normal, but due to the machinations of the cult, she opted for an extreme.

[@kazunabe4288]

Honestly I empathize more with the dude than Dani. Just think about it from another perspective. She really shouldn't be dating anyone in her state. It's far too draining. You even said she "needs him not to leave her." He wants to leave her, but he SYMPATHIZES with her situation and feels some obligation to "not leave her." Isn't that relatable at all to people? IDK it can be very difficult to keep the spark going when someone is so extremely emotionally draining.

[@cidevant002]

@@kazunabe4288 Yeah, having someone depending their whole mental health stability on your it was always going to be unhealthy for everyone involved. It was never fair for Chris to be put on that situation, but he was and the movie makes it seem like he had it coming for not breaking up sooner with the girl who literally had her whole family killed. Chris at worst was kind of a douche, he didn't deserved that kind of ending just like he didn't deserved to be raped, brainwashed and treated like that.

[@elmfao1824]

I viewed Paimon as the physical manifestation of intergenerational trauma/abuse. Annie spends the whole film desperately trying to protect her family from Ellen (and Paimon). She watched how Ellen pushed her brother, Charles, to suic!de. When she was pregnant with Peter, she distanced herself from Elle, but felt guilty and allowed her back after the birth of Charlie. During this time, Ellen puts Paimon into Charlie, resulting in the distancing once again. After Ellen's death, Annie feels confused and unsettled, like people are watching her or plotting against her, but she is resistant to open up about it. Then, Charlie dies suddenly, and Annie is distraught. In her compounded grief (and release of Paimon), she blames Peter and distances herself from her husband, falling deeper into isolation and aggression. She and Peter have repeated nightmares, but instead of explosive moments like Annie, Peter descends into apathy. Steve is desperately trying to hold everything together. Annie tries to get them to believe there is a something happening, but Steve thinks Annie is making it all up. Steve dies after Annie attempts to sacrifice herself to end it, allowing Paimon the final push to take over her to atttack Peter. Upon Peter seeing Annie's gruesome end, he also attempts suic!de, but it was unsuccessful and Paimon takes over him too. Ellen being "secretive" and "manipulative", the consistent suic!des, Peter's affinity for substances, and the cult's beliefs that Paimon will bring them honor, wealth, and knowledge and "bind all men to their will" also fit into this idea. The inescapable nature is hinted at many times, but I feel it is most glaringly obvious when Peter is in English class and they discuss Oedipus Rex, debating whether it is more or less tragic that the characters did not even have a chance to change their fate. Many people that experience trauma, specifically parental abuse, describe it as if they never stood a chance of being a healthy person, as if they inherited a curse they fear they will pass to their own children. Since the movie is bookended with Annie's miniatures, I saw it as her experience of succumbing to and perpetuating the generational curse, regardless of how hard she tried to fight it.

[@austinzaff]

Yup, spot on. The number one rule of movies is every time there is a classroom scene, whatever is discussed will always be the central theme of the movie (only half joking). But really, one of the main horrors of the film is that the family never had a chance. The cult was pulling the strings the whole time. There is even a satanic symbol on the telephone pole, that kind of implies the cult always intended that to be where Charlie is killed.

[@TheMolt1]

Meep even says that Toni Collette's character loses her humanity as a result of her trauma. We see that literally happen with her son.

[@MarshmallowEclipse]

This is probably one of the best takes I've heard about Hereditary. Overall it was a subpar movie but the acting and cinematography were so good that it tricked people into thinking the story was amazing when it wasn't. Your description of what it represented was one of the best ways I've heard a rationalization of the ridiculous concepts in the movie.

[@MilesUpshur0]

@@MarshmallowEclipse I'll have to disagree with you, everything they say is actually canon and the story itself was very great and creative

[@nikolajignatiev6323]

What is that about my emergency food?

[@TheDutchessOfCornville]

3:13 The scene where she’s on the floor, screaming over the discovery of her daughter’s body, was gut-wrenching. As a mom, her wails of pain hurt my heart.

[@karlakirby2302]

A relationship doesn’t need to prove it’s worth when you’re so immersed in your own trauma and grief. You can cling to a relationship that’s clearly terrible for years and years because you are not processing the trauma that caused you to cling to that relationship in the first place. A relationship can also be super shitty, and you can still grieve it immensely. If your parent was super abusive to you and they pass away, you can still grieve the person you lost because despite how they valued you, you valued them.

[@captainmarvelwilson508]

The problem is, I found Midsommar super pretentious and boring. Almost nothing happens, and when something happens it just felt contrived and just made to shock me rather than have a good time.

[@nickbrowning3270]

Comments like this is why I avoid women. PSYCHOPATH

[@CajunReaper95]

Yeah he had a bad take here, after seeing how my mom was after the abuse she suffered at the hands of her now ex husband he dropped the fucking ball on this one!

[@CajunReaper95]

@@captainmarvelwilson508it’s more so about the influence that cult brainwashing has on one, literally they try to spin it at no one has your best interest at heart but us!

[@abbyc403]

I will say that I don't think Dani's character fell flat. As someone who has experienced a traumatic, sudden loss, and been sucked into religion to fix that, she was deeply relatable. She suffers countless dissociations, and seems flat, or empty, because of this, but so did I! So I'd make the argument that she is a much deeper character than you would think. Dani's struggles are accurate to the experience of losing a massive part of you.

[@gwencatz2483]

You took the words right out of my mouth. Midsommar was horrifying because it illustrated how cults worked through the perspective of Dani, the *heavily traumatized individual* that they were actively targeting.

[@anaruz4818]

No, she and people like her are just people with no self-worth and dignity. It's not as deep as you want it to be

[@bubullibooooo9928]

Exactly!

[@zerochocolatemilk]

I completely disagree being around someone who is going through trauma you seem flat but you aren’t everyone around you can see it you were something before that happened to you and that contrasts is contrary to being flat like the video states

[@davil.5608]

I'll be honest and overshare a little, but Hereditary absolutely speaks to me in a horrifying way. If it were just a movie about family issues then it wouldn't creep me out as much, and the reason for this is that I always suffered from heavy depression and bpd, but... I grew up thinking those things were results from demonic influences, since my family was always christian. I always have this fear of it really being a demon tormenting me, even if I'm currently agnostic, since having your entire life being controlled by an evil entity is a pretty despair inducing concept. This movie shows us this, and it's not just a case of possession, this prince of hell is literally manipulating the entire lives of this family, and it's so hopeless that one could almost say it's cosmic horror. You just feel so small.

[@mamberroi0935]

Agree, I think If you took the supernatural element out of hereditary it wouldn’t really be horror anymore, I’m not saying there has to be monsters or something paranormal for a movie to be horror, but in this case without it I feel it would just be a really dark drama

[@_grapefruit]

To me the demonic element is a metaphor for the trauma inflicted on the family

[@isaiahromero9861]

Yep, gives me the same sense of dread as the show Dark, something about the concept of ordinary people being used and sacrificed like pawns is fucking terrifying to me, especially when it's all part of some bigger picture the characters can't grasp or influence, when they can't escape their fate no matter how hard they try

[@t.7124]

Exactly, I adore this movie for how it creates a feeling of hopelessness insignificance and I really wish more movies would tap into that. It's like existential in a way, because this greater being is controlling their fate and making their lives hell, it's terrifying to me but so fucking cool

[@rickwrites2612]

Yes, this is what I imagine a demon would really be like, truly terrifying, not like some monster like is usually in supernatural horror demon films.

[@Oxcymoron]

I’m not going to lie, I still get chills when I hear the horns from hereditary. It’s still one of my top 5 favorite horror films and really top 5 films in general.

[@sana.4.a]

same, the ending song was stuck in my head :(

[@mintyfreshest]

I think the reason Dani was clinging onto Christian so tightly despite him being mid was because she needed him while she's grieving. Even though he doesn't actually support her other than like sometimes hugging her or letting her lean against him, she's just so broken by her loss that it would be devastating to lose him too. (maybe before her family died, she was just afraid to be alone because she had no other close friends or something) - to me that actually makes it even more devastating, Dani is out here saying "I know that you don't do anything for me, I know you are completely incapable of helping me through this, but I'm so completely and utterly alone that I still need you."

[@jonathanl9229]

I actually loved the ending of Hereditary. I also loved the ending of the Witch- but I’m a huge fan of horror folkelore. I loved the ode to Rosemary’s Baby at the end.

[@attitudeproblem6462]

I love the ending of The Witch, too.❤

[@paulgartner1753]

Same here I think Hereditary, the Witch and the new Suspiria were really similar as in: they start as just depressing Drama with some supernatural elements and then at the end it’s does a whole 180 and goes super supernatural in a way that doesn’t really fit into the movie and I think a lot of people get upset over it but I just really love the endings of all those three movies Also if you are into folk-horror then watch the original The Wicker Man. It’s pretty different and not sure if you will like it but I loved it (it’s not really disturbing but more of a weird exploration of a tradition)

[@bekleedee]

the loss of a child, especially a daughter, that hereditary deals with is something that hits way to close to home for me. I've been told by so many people to watch it and from the bits I've seen, it looks brilliant but watching another mother mourn the loss of her daughter is something that I can't do.

[@checkouijuliet]

My own mother doesn't give a shit about movies, let alone horror films. She thinks they're funny at best and childish at worst. Then my brother and I watched hereditary in the living room while she was sitting on the couch browsing on her laptop. She wasn't even paying attention or anything, had no idea what it was about, but the scene where Toni Collette is on the floor grieving her child literally made her stood up and walk away, she actually said "yeah, I'm leaving , and if anything happened to you guys that'd be me, so I can't listen to this". That movie floored me like no other

[@paidendenae]

that's very understandable

[@thisdamnguyagain4450]

nah i wouldn’t recommend watching this then. its too close to home and even for someone with no kids or even the fact i have never lost anyone yet that scene rips me apart from my inside the shit is powerful

[@laughingstock7638]

do not watch hereditary lol. its not the movie for you if its that personal.

[@Respect2theFallen]

​@checkouijuliet man really, her cry while the son was in bed wide eyed and she discovered what happened was super depressing that shit was insane you could really hear the pain in her that was great acting for sure

[@rosechapman2734]

I haven't seen hereditary, but I did want to share my thoughts of Midsommer. I never thought we were supposed to care about Dani and Christians relationship. Her fate was sealed in the first 15 minutes, and we are just watching it play out. Yes, the film is in Danis perspective, but we are seeing her the way the cult does, and also wants Dani to see herself... a blank, hurting, misunderstood woman in need of connection. The tragedy and emotional crux for me was never Danis romantic life, it was her familial one. She brutally looses her family, all she has left of that is a man she KNOWS doesn't care about her anymore. She doesn't care about that right now, she needs and wants connection. The cult signifies that deep heartfelt connection, even in a ritual suicide, It MEANS something there. All it meant back home was that she was going to be alone. Dani choosing to kill Christian is signifying her detachment from her old life, and the willingness to have family agian that she also KNOWS are unhinged, but are there for her. It makes the deaths of her own family look like they mean more then tragedy. We don't see much of Danis relationship with her own family, other then she may have been very protective of her sister, being her rock, and possibly having well meaning but emotionally absent parents.... which sounds like Christian. That is what Dani thinks love is, well meaning, but emotionally absent she knows this isnt the same. But she clings to it as its all she has now. Her other kind of love is being an emotional rock for others, this is what she was trying to get Christian to be, which he tried a little, but in the end neither got what they needed. The cult did provide however. In a sick and twisted way, they became her rock, they gave her families deaths meaning, they lifted and celebrated her when the world burned down around her, literally and figuratively. Danis fate was always sealed. Never because of romance, but becuase of family. We are watching her slip down a steep slope of grief and hoping she can catch herself before she falls and let's it take over. Then, instead of slowing down, she dives into it. Each step we can see certain cult members acting like sisters, brothers, mothers would to her. Reminding her boyfriend of her birthday, in thier room and breaking down without having to say a word, encouraging her to let loose and party a little. All the while we are seeing Danis hallucinations of her family play in the backgrounds, hidden from us, but are apparent in her psyche. Christian was a jerkish character, yes, but also very realistic. He doesn't want this relationship, but he also doesn't want to hurt Dani more then she has, even if it would make him look bad. He's just a guy, with jerky friends, stuck in that cycle many young men get in. He's a normal stereotype of men women deal with constantly in the dating scene. Not ready or willing to grow. The tragedy of Dani is her choosing more and more toxic relationships searching for connection rather then working on herself. The cult takes full advantage of that.

[@captainmarvelwilson508]

I get what the film is trying to tell, but even with this explanation, it doesn’t make the film any less boring and pretentious for me. There are so many movies that deal with break up better than this one and this one just to me feels like it was just trying to shock me and nothing more.

[@rosechapman2734]

@captainmarvelwilson508 I don't know if you actually read my comment. But I literally explained how it wasn't about her and Christians relationship. It's not about a breakup. It's about her family. She gets a replacement family, not a replacement boyfriend.

[@captainmarvelwilson508]

@@rosechapman2734 Yeah. Okay. But regardless, I still can’t stand this movie because of the reasons I just mentioned. It was the most boring and pretentious movie I saw that year and was only made to make me feel uncomfortable. I just don’t see the point of making a 2.5 hours long movie about the dangers of joining a cult and watching her jerky friends just dismiss everything.

[@rosechapman2734]

@captainmarvelwilson508 Your allowed to have your opinion, man. I wasn't trying to convince anyone to like the movie, I was explaining my pov on it. It's fine you don't like them, don't know why you wanted to comment on my post specifically?

[@CybeargPlays]

I guess I am alone in thinking Christian was done dirty because he was drugged, pushed to have sex while high (aka he was raped), and then got burned alive for it. Sure, maybe he was a bad boyfriend and a douchebag, but I’m not sure he deserved to be raped and then burned alive.

[@CorneliusASathoth]

I agree. He was despondent and not very attentive to Dani, but I think Ari did too good of a job with making people wanting him to be burnt alive. We saw from the beginning that he had intentions of breaking up with her because his heart wasn't in the relationship anymore, but to leave someone after such a horrific tragedy would've been difficult for anyone. Although he doesn't want to be with her, he still cares enough about her that he didn't leave her to deal with her grief alone. He's not the best person, but he's not deserving of anything that happened to him. It's a masterclass in guiding the audience into schadenfreude.

[@PlanetMondo]

The Paimon part/ending was actually my favorite portion of it. That statue at the end made me more uncomfortable than I've felt in a LONG time watching a movie.

[@alinapolat7336]

I literally felt nauseous the whole night after seeing it.

[@alliemandleni5846]

@@alinapolat7336 I got nightmares. I never get nightmares.

[@alinapolat7336]

@@alliemandleni5846 i feel you lol, I laid awake the whole night and couldn’t close my eyes without seeing that fuckinf scene at the end

[@littleblueby7748]

No literally the ending was so gruseome and just uncomfortable...thats what really made it work imo

[@PlanetMondo]

@@littleblueby7748 100% agree. The ending was the best part.

[@thinkfirst1989]

So here's the thing about Dani in Midsommar. We can infer from the conversation with her sister in the opening that Dani grew up being her sister's keeper- loving her sister deeply, expending so much effort to protect and be there for her, and learning how to live with the chaos of her sister's mental illness only for her sister to take everything from Dani, including herself. The fact that Dani's only close relationship seems to be Christian - her bf really suggests that she finds it difficult to relate and feel close with other people, this often happens when people grow up enmeshed in family dysfunction, their family is their whole world and the trauma they've experienced alienates them from others. THIS is why Dani is holding onto Christian so tightly- not because he's so wonderful, but because for whatever reason he is all she has, he is her only real human connection left. And deep down she MUST know this, but instead she looks past his clear uncomfortability in being there to appreciate and cling desperately to the fact that he is there at all. And as for Christian, I think one could say, while I certainly agree with you he's an asshole, that he was very much out of his depth when it came to helping Dani with her grief. Not every relationship works out, he was ready to leave but frightened to- he mentions it early on, what if leaving is the wrong choice? This is a man who isn't really sure what love is, but who knows he DOESN'T want to be an asshole and so he stays with a grieving partner, but can't escape being an asshole, because he isn't in love with her, and he's not very good at faking it. He's damned if he goes and damned if he stays and he's just kind of trapped in this moral conundrum with (apparently) noone around him of any real moral insight to help him figure out what to do. I actually find these characters very believable. We are never meant to root for them to stay together. We are actually meant to root for them to find a way to recognize it isn't working and to find the strength and emotional clarity to break up, so that they can find what they need where it actually exists instead of clinging to each other out of fear. That is the dramatic momentum of the film and that's why when Dani chooses to burn Christian, it feels like a triumph of sorts. Perhaps we learn so little about their relationship because both of them are bad at inhabiting their authentic selves with certainty and communicating from that place. They are co-dependent AF.

[@thinkfirst1989]

@Iris I'm not a psychologist but I do have family who are mentally ill and I've had significant elements of trauma in my own life because of those situations. So I do have personal experience I suppose you could say. But because of what my family has gone through I've done a lot of reading over the years about the psychology of development, trauma, attachment, motivation etc. I've seen Midsommar at least three times, and watched a number of commentary pieces on it because I found it to be such a compelling film and I'm always interested to hear other people's perspectives and engage in this kind of dialogue.

[@lucy-vo2lr]

@@thinkfirst1989 this was like reading my own comment thank you! i feel exactly the same. i have similar insight as i have mentally ill family members as well as a disabled older brother. lots of love

[@m.i.n.9000]

I love this comment. I do have one thing to add Danny does talk to a friend over the phone (and I think she has other friends besides her too) and she does say.. that maybe she's too clingy.. she says she's always roping him into her family crap and her friend says that's what he's there for. that's not what he's there for dude... nobody signs up for family baggage when they go into a relationship, and when this baggage turns out to be huge you can't be blamed it it kills the romance in you. Everyone has their own limit, and some are shorter than others... Danny knows what she weighs on him... and that he's prolly tired of it all. Chris's passion has slowly died because he's burning out trying to be better than he actually is but at least he's trying. Maybe if he went on a vacation alone, and had some time to miss Danny or not miss Danny, he could have at least had some time to recharge and do the most healthy thing for them both...

[@kitkat2702]

Yes, I agree with everything you said! To extend your point, both Dani and Christian are very believable, and that is in part why I have sympathy for them both--because they're both trapped in the relationship, Dani out of grief and a desire to not bear it alone, and Christian out of a desire to avoid making her pain worse (even though he fails to do to that out of a lack of genuine love for her). Both of them have plausible reasons for staying in the relationship, and what makes the horror of the movie so good is that the end of the relationship culminates in their mutual destruction, one of the mind and one of the body. It's a great horror movie because the ending reflected the pain the relationship brought them both the entire time; the relationship inevitably destroys them because they could not bring themselves to destroy it. The cult exploits this and reduces Dani to a mantle for their worship and Christian to a sacrificial animal; making them both victims of the cult as well as each other and their own desires.

[@davinkubota]

I think the missing layer is Dani’s lack of agency Agency is a big deal here I think there could be more nuance or a deleted scene where we really see how her sister was a vacuum If we see this scene then we comprehend some strange sense of why she would stay with Christian. I’m not sure how we can add nuance to Christian. To what extent does life in the West celebrate a toxic guy like him? The secret asshole friend isn’t really an asshole. He has empathy. He also has collective agency. Dani doesn’t have that. She might not even have individualized agency. Perhaps the missing chance was the suicide scene. The way Christian reacts seemed naturalistic, but doesn’t necessarily showcase a sense of how any rational person would not have just left right then. But that’s a horror film for you. No one needs to stay at the camp. No one needs to sleep over at the cobweb filled mansion.

[@bethanywallace8575]

I watched Hereditary in theatres. At that car scene I remember hearing others gasp (including me) then complete SILENCE. You could have heard an ant's heartbeat. The theatre wasn't even loud before that scene or anything but it was like everyone just froze, and started holding their breath. Ive never experienced that in a movie theatre before. Was pretty cool

[@andyscott5277]

I completely agree with you about Midsommar, but less so about Hereditary. I liked the ending of the latter, which was so bizarre to me that it was legitimately terrifying. Not so much a fear of "the devil," but with cults that have members completely convinced that horrific acts are justified, even joyous.

[@bascal133]

I was ready to totally dismiss this as like “I’m not like the other girls” ari aster hate, but you made a lot of really great points 😁👍🏾. I don’t think Dani is a Mary Sue though, she’s clearly very anxious, clingy and codependent, I feel like dating her would be exhausting even before her parents were killed by her sister.

[@meeptop]

Appreciate this comment a lot! Really try my hardest to come with good points and give credit where it's due when I make videos like this. I have a lot of respect and admiration for Ari Aster and I hate when somebody's a contrarian just for the sake of it, so I'm stoked to hear this video is coming across how I intended. I can agree with the last part to an extent, but we really can't get to know the full extent of Dani's personality since the film just wants to show it on the surface level. Given what we see the film, trying to defend Christian's side just feels like playing devil's advocate haha.

[@Shadi092986]

THIS. The ending is also clearly Dani getting out of a toxic relationship and into a cult collective, and aggregate sites flooded with videos about how this is "empowering" without viewing the dire implications. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

[@MrSqueamishJam]

He could have dumped her earlier then but ok

[@eatyourbrainss]

i dont think she was meant to be seen as clingy, Christian is a horrible boyfriend and she was still tolerant of his manipulative behavior

[@mysticalturtle9889]

@@Shadi092986 ironic how the conditioning worked on the audience too

[@leedlebeatle8286]

I don't mind that the characters in Midsommar feel one dimensional. With the emotional turmoil that Dani is going through between her family dying and her bad relationship, EVERYTHING feels one dimension. When you're going through that much crap, life is hollow and lost. It seems fitting that, at least the characters, seems empty and one note in that movie. Maybe I'm giving too much credit, but I thought it was great that it all felt weird and out of place, because that's what life feels like in those situations. The end of this movie almost felt like "this is what SHOULD happen" and it feels like you have no choice but to go with it, almost helplessly, but that's what life feels like when you're that emotionally tapped out.

[@MilesUpshur0]

You're totally right, and no, I don't think you are giving it too much credit

[@q0dis]

Besides Dani literally had no option to do anything about it cuz if she did she was going to be killed lol. I will add that in her position of literal helplessness and putting it in the context she is in, feeling ''relieved'' is totally understandable

[@heathercalun4919]

2:38 No I LOVED the supernatural twist is what I'm saying. I haven't seen the Exorcist, but I'd say in terms of making the paranormal feel credible, this does it just as well. Because rather than couching it in science, it shows how despair can make people want something so badly, that it warps perception and dulls skepticism. Ari knows that any audience member would be going "What if there's a magnet under the table, guiding the planchet?" so he has Annie look under the table. And at this point in her story, even if there are other rational explanations for what's happening, this is enough to make her a believer, so it's enough for us. A good portion of why it works is just the visual effects themselves. Yes, it's often so dark you can barely see what's happening anyway, but when you do see them move, the weightlessness looks real. It feels real. And the final scene?! Come on! It was a haunted diorama of a rebirth the whole time. The perfect Halloween-meets-Christmas twist. I wouldn't love this movie nearly as much without the demonic ending.

[@tenofivelips]

I consider myself a horror connoisseur. A movie has never affected me the way Hereditary did.

[@JacksonAndrea97]

Lots of comments are making great points. I'd like to add that Dani and Christian were a relationship that began in college. For imperfect people to find each other and date all through college even though their relationship isn't all that meaningful is totally realistic. And Dani's imperfection is not her trauma, it's how she channels her trauma: by ignoring problems. She's all alone, with her only way of ignoring that being someone who doesn't care about her, but they stay together because they are so attached. This is entirely believable to me. I've been through and witnessed relationships that are built on attachment, not love. For me, I don't need to believe that characters love each other for good and honest reasons to understand their attachment, especially characters who started dating when they were teenagers. I think the analysis in this video misses out on how common this type of codependency is.

[@kayreb]

The ending of Midsommar was interesting to me because it felt like we were manipulated into smiling with Dani at watching her boyfriend burn. It's like we were drawn into the cult and indoctrinated right alongside Dani. Something that should have been horrifying to both Dani and us as the audience, leaves us feeling satisfied and relieved. For me, it was deeply unsettling to realise I felt the exact way that the cult would have wanted...I had been manipulated into wanting this.

[@Beardymanlol]

Nevermind the fact that she was so traumatized by the Attestupa scene just a few days prior. Now fully (for the time being at least) in control of everyone's fate

[@Cernunnnos]

The scene in the car with Charlie with Hereditary hit me like a fucking lampost out of nowhere. Seriously, that crack and the following 10 minutes of utter despair and the harrowing, realistic cowardice of his reaction to it. I can honestly say no other horror film has come close to landing a blow like that on my psyche. I can deal with supernatural shit, or gore porn or whatever till the cows come home. It's unreal, you can revel in the unrealness and enjoy it for the novelty. That scene, that scene felt entirely too real. It comes out of nowhere as it's been built as a supernatural horror film, with Charlie possibly being something like the kid from the Omen. Then whammy! The motherfucking consequences of your entirely relatable and petty teenage rebelliousness come back to haunt you, with dividends. You just do not expect it. I can see why the unravelling into supernatural torment after that can sour the experience. I'd much have preferred it to be left ambiguous. And I'd probably have believed it was the characters degrading mental health that was responsible for the events after that scene if it was left ambiguous. But that singular scene hit me so hard that I just don't care. It's good enough! Midsommar was good, it felt like a story about a cult indoctrinating a very unwell individual, which is what was actually happening. But nothing in that film took me for the loop like Hereditary did. The set and style of the film made it a very enjoyable film though. The fractal repetition at the dinner scenes were very satisfying for instance.

[@TheDevilsInYourDetails]

I liked the ending and supernatural element in Hereditary. Reason is because of the fact that the grandma cursed them with her cult and adds the element of the sins of your fathers to the overall themes of the film.

[@amyswallow742]

I'm wondering what direction you would have rather had Hereditary go in? I get that cults and demons are a major trope in horror at this point. However, I think it's what a movie does with these familiar territories that redefines the dilemma and gives it a fresh perspective. To me, I don't think the use of demonic forces in this movie is a cop out or crutch but a glue that holds all the layers and complexity together.

[@MilesUpshur0]

I totally agree with you :)

[@Watchful049]

Same, I wish he would've gone more in depth as to why he didn't like the cult/supernatural elements. Seems more like a bias than actual criticism imo. The supernatural stuff is baked deep in the movie's beginning so removing the cult and the ending wouldn't make sense in context to the rest of the film.

[@faggysock2395]

fr! ive also heard that ari wanted to have these elements of cliche

[@Nexol13]

@@Watchful049 I believe he disliked it so much because the execution of the supernatural elements was so similar to the climax of Rosemary’s Baby that it came off as lazy. Having all of these tense elements laced throughout the film all for it to end with the lead character being a vessel for a demon, especially with the cult exposition-dumping in the last few minutes, is what brings it just a tad too close to the other film. Plus, the cult do it for personal gain and riches, as did the cult in Rosemary’s Baby (that’s the whole reason Guy let himself get cucked by the devil).

[@Watchful049]

@@Nexol13 ill admit, I've never seen Rosemary's baby. Whats wrong with it being similar to another film if the other film is good though? Without comparing another movie, why does the cult and supernatural elements not work in this? The Joker and Taxi Driver get compared to each other too but people usually state why Joker being too similar to Taxi Driver doesn't work as well. One criticism I have of Joker is that Arthur (joker)he seems way too sympathetic compared to Travis (taxi driver). In the Joker, it feels like people are mean for the sake of it and as a result, Arthur is alienated from society. In comparison, Travis is a weird, anti social perv because he's lost his purpose. Being a soldier gave him purpose but he doesn't know what to live for anymore so he tries to buy a gun to kill someone for attention. So while both depict social outcasts, Joker doesn't is too sympathetic so you'll always root for him but Travis isn't so innocent so you're challenged to side with him or not.

[@kat8559]

The ending of midsommar is perfect. You want dani out of her awful relationship but she wont let it go bc hes all that she has left. But you also see her easily manipulated by and brought further and further into the cult, until they have completely replaced christian in dani's mind as her family. So the ending is meant to elicit the contradictory emotions of "oh yay kill him" and "oh no shes in a cult now!!"

[@kat8559]

It's imo the climax and the essence of the horror of midsommar: the dawning realization that dani has replaced one toxic relationship for another, and that in the end she got what she wanted. She found a new family.

[@mischr13]

@@kat8559 EXACTLY I don't know how people miss this 😭

[@Itza-Me]

But why is it a good thing he's killed? He literally didn't do a thing wrong apart from being a bit of a dick sometimes.

[@tally3067]

I’m surprised so many people actually thought about the relationship in that movie. I’m just scarred from granny’s hands on his ass.

[@gggallin8279]

I mean he’s an asshole but he definitely didn’t deserve to be burned alive sewn into a bear corpse 💀

[@dummy1221]

When me and my dad watched Hereditary for the first time, before the paimon stuff was revealed he thought that the movie was about annie. That she actually did kill peter and charlie ( and herself) with the paint thinner and that the she was in hell. I love this concept so much and feel like it could have been a better twist

[@sana.4.a]

it would have been so boring

[@geekzone5685]

I agree, the supernatural stuff should've been ambigious as to whether or not it was actually there.

[@rainelemont]

I always saw Midsommar as a relationship that wasn't dying, but dead. The only thing that kept it together was the death of Dani's family. We are watching as an outside party, looking at a relationship that, from what we can see, needs to end, because its helping neither party. Thats why we feel relieved when she finally makes the decision to kill Christian herself. She found it in her to admit to herself it was dead long ago and doing her no good.

[@DestinyCorton]

i feel like if you’ve never been in such a toxic relationship with somebody, the movie won’t impact you as much; the level at which i related with Danny was so scary that i couldn’t stop feeling anxious throughout the whole movie; also, there is this absolutely terrifying feeling of not being understood and supported that is extremely soul crushing when it’s coming from someone who you love this much and the emptiness and loneliness throughout the various scenes between the two really brought up my darkest memories; this movie completely destroyed me and i never want to see it again - THAT is why it’s absolutely perfect and it did its job

[@sarah-vw9ty]

same. I think the way the movie was acted just made it so much more relatable to women as well. I had just been out of a toxic relationship followed by a death in the family when I watched this and I truly felt everything. Especially Dani didn't need any more depth imo

[@sarah-vw9ty]

and he totally missed the aspect of the movie that is about fascism and white supremacy, and said on the comments that Ari Aster didnt present the movie in that way, but he actually totally did. It's just that white people still easily fall for fascist ideology or never notice it being shoved down their throats because they don't care...

[@q0dis]

Sameeee, i had broken up with my ex who treated me poorly and my codependent ass was unable to leave him or see the redflags. Christian reminded me so much of him and my name is also Dani so i also was anxious and relating way too much hahha

[@mrelephant3462]

Hey Kate reply but I’m wondering what you thought of midsommers ending, did you think it was a happy ending for Dani?

[@typicaldigicamenjoyer]

@@sarah-vw9ty dani is her relationship lmao no depth whatsoever. which is accurate to women in real life because they claim they lose themselves in toxic relationships and they become nothing. quite pathetic

[@haleybffe]

I wanted to address the scene you were talking about at 16:21. I don’t even think he was “standing in solidarity with her” from my memory, Christian was like “oh I’m not going to do it if she isn’t”, so everyone automatically blamed Dani for not taking the shrooms because Christian wouldn’t which only elevated her anxiety into saying yes. I feel like Christian’s intentions were to place blame on her because he himself didn’t really want to take it. Idk that would align w his character more

[@SantosAl]

I feel like this scene exemplifies their relationship, Christian knows or at least thinks he knows what the correct thing to do is; but doesn't really want to do it. So he wants to take the shrooms, but feels obligated - and annoyed by it - to support Dani, and Dani senses this and gives in since he is her last/only emotional support. It feels like a lot of people who watched the film put a lot of malice on Christians actions, when the truth is that he is just completely over the relationship and feels imprisoned by Dani's situation. Which makes him act like a douche. But I'll admit that it might just me that is projecting, I've had a friend that has been totally dependent on me for their emotional wellbeing, and it can be so draining.

[@THX-uo9dm]

I think he stood in fake solidarity with her because he knew she would cave. How she is, is exactly what he created and he knows his creation very well. He accomplished being understanding in her eyes and the "here we go again" myrtr to his friends all in one motion. It was by design. Her theme is to compromise herself in every way for his benefit. I really don't believe he was ever going to break up with her. He was too selfish to. He liked to complain about her which always got him a pay off. It got him sympathy and attention which all manipulative narcissists thrive on.

[@quavodelnegro8304]

Feels like complaining for the sake of complaining. What is the alternative ending for Hereditary you would have preferred? Obviously it was a demon, i don’t see how that is disappointing. What else could have possibly been the explanation for all the weird shit going on? The execution and the twist of it being a set up from the start was great.

[@captainmarvelwilson508]

Hereditary is a great movie, but Midsommar is not.

[@geekzone5685]

In my opinion, I feel that it should've been ambigious as to whether or not all the events and trama that take place was the fault of the supernatural, or the insanity brought upon onto the family.

[@empac8631]

In defense of midsommar and Dany and Christian’s relationship; maybe we aren’t supposed to see any sweet moments because when the movie starts they’re already in such a state of no repair. The movie starts with Danny calling Christian while he’s out with his buddy’s because her sister is causing her to panic while he’s talking about leaving her. He says himself it’s not the first time the sister has done this, so clearly the threat of the tragic opening has been lingering over them the entire time digging into a relationship that was never meant to make it to begin with. They’re in university, they don’t have much in common- they probably were just dating and experiencing that first real relationship but the toxicity of Dany’s family bleeds into the toxicity of their relationship never meant to thrive. We do see Dany telling him he’s not an asshole even though she knows he is because if she admits he is, he may leave her, or she’ll have to fully admit they need to end it. She‘s lost everyone in her family and all she has is this guy, of course she’s going to cling to him and ignore his many, many flaws. We don’t see Christian do nice things or cherish her because we’re only supposed to see the cult do them for Danny. Pele asks her if she feels held by Christian, when they arrive Dany is the only one to get a hug from the community. There’s hints like that all over the movie where whatever Christian is lacking the cult will give her. They even embrace her as a family member at the end where Christian was all she had left but she knew he wanted to leave her too.

[@boianko]

This movie made me have a full blown psychotic episode. It just struck way too many cords with me. My family has a bloody history and my abusive father always had occultist beliefs of which he was pretty secretive. For me Hereditary was about the despair and suffering one individual can cause to their loved ones for their own gain, and the horrific aftermath they leave behind, haunting their family even after death. I saw the mother breaking down and being possessed as a clear expression of one of the greatest fears many people from abusive homes have - becoming like their parents. It's even in the title - Hereditary. I don't agree that the film is about the effects of grief alone, but the fact that often that grief is caused by the people meant to be the closest to you, and it takes a horrific journey of self-discovery and sleuthing to reach that realization. A lot of people don't make it through, they succumb to their trauma and perpetuate it to later generations.

[@kavlara]

I’m glad someone else said it, I have ptsd and a history of psychosis, so it hit home. I started getting paranoid and delusional just watching it, someone should’ve warned me 😂😅 same with midsommar when I first watched it.

[@boianko]

@@kavlara I did freak out a bit at the start of Midsommar, but definitely nothing like Hereditary. The rest of the movie was just uncomfortable to watch but not really that scary.

[@maxverstappen7160]

nice larp

[@Hilz28]

Definitely staying away from content like this would be my professional opinion (Therapist, here). No need to put yourself through a full blown psychotic episode (unless you're able to get some catharsis through it?) You shouldn't have to sacrifice great movies/media, but unless you're in a good place mentally (or at least stable) don't do that to yourself. I think it's really brave and wise you shared that experience, here. It helps de-stigmatize mental illness. Hope you've recovered!!

[@britbrat1127]

I’m so sick of people 😂😂🙄🙄 over a fictitious movie? Grow up and get a life. Omg

[@alexandragabitto2573]

I may be wrong, but my hot take on both movies was that we are seeing the events of the two films from the point of view of the main leads. This is why we get highly opinionated depictions of people because the protagonist sees them as such; if the main character hates someone, then we only see the bad and NONE of the good in that person. On top of that, neither believes they’re in the wrong…so we never see them in that light, even when pieces of the darker parts of their personalities manage to seep through. Again, this is just my interpretation however.

[@chaselarsen1361]

I rewatch these at least a couple times a year. Such a different type of horror. Taking themes we can relate to on a small scale and ramping them up to a very uncomfortable and haunting level.

[@ibendover4817]

I can understand Midsommar being criticised... Hereditary is once in a lifetime and people struggle to find horror movies that are on the same level after watching it. The only things that come close are a few foreign films.

[@robby7499]

Good thoughts; not real fan of either these movies, but they have their own merit. Kind of felt that the flat characters in Midsommar was probably intentional because the story is told in Dani's perspective as it is her attempt at trying to cope with the loss of her family. It would almost make sense to me that she'd view Christian and his friends as exaggerated versions of what they normally would be (like Christian likely was distant, but in her mind, she would overblow it out of proportion). Grief would take a major toll on a person's mind after all.

[@meeptop]

I can definitely agree with this, to an extent. The story is told from Dani's emotional lens and these distorted and simplistic views of the people around her could easily be attributed to her grief. If that's what Ari Aster was going for, I just wish it would've been integrated into the story better. Maybe we get more well rounded looks at the characters at the beginning of the story but as the cult ensnares Dani they progressively get more one dimensional. Something like that could've really enhanced that choice and made it resonate more, in my opinion.

[@robby7499]

Oh, I agree with the assessment, just basing my interpretation around Dani's grief most likely causing her to exaggerate her surroundings along with being indoctrinated.

[@Hopperesque101]

When her head hit a (ex) tree in Hereditary, that's about the peak of it. The reactions of the son and mother - Toni Collete's cry as she goes out to the car, and the wrenching grief that follows - make the film. The supernatural stuff is handled very well, and is creepy and scary in its own way. But the all-too-real sudden, violent loss of someone you love and are meant to protect - that is the peak of the film, and nothing after that can match it. The rest of the film is footnotes to the first act. Without that moment, it would be an excellently done horror mystery. But, for all the burning alive and piano wire and headslamming, it can't match that first horror.

[@MilesUpshur0]

I certainly agree with you, but I think the moments after the loss where actually pretty alive by themselves

[@Fendelfull]

The metaphor of the supernatural elements in hereditary didn’t jump the shark, for me, with the ecstatic and fantastical ending, which can still be read literally without disrupting the horror of the family’s experience of grief. I even would say that the ending has a catharsis that the psychological journey requires. It does cross a line, but it feels like the line being crossed is the one between the kind of grief that contains hope and the kind from which there’s no return, and insanity rises to the level where hellish truth obscures any potential for redemption. For me, that’s a valid and powerfully moving cinematic story to tell. Without that kind of tipping out of the mundane, the story’s arc would seem much less complete to me.

[@jessc5112]

as someone w c-ptsd midsommar felt so true to the experience of trauma and i felt so deeply for dani's character

[@KRAPYBARA84]

My take away from the movie is that you can have a grief so haunting that it can make you an emotional vampire, kill your ex, and gladly be the head priestess of a cult. LOL relatable

[@kazunabe4288]

Just to add something to the conversation. I never really saw Dani's boyfriend as "an a**hole" like so many seem to think. I think the director mentioning he has been in that characters shoes kinda reminds me of situations I have seen others in. If this were a "normal good equal relationship" then he would be an a**hole for acting "blah" towards Dani. But in this relationship Dani is extremely damaged emotionally and requires professional help. She is a giant drain on this guy's life, on a near constant basis. That is a horrible relationship. He doesn't really seem to be too into her anymore either, which means that he perhaps does not feel much romance between them anymore. This guy feels bad for wanting to break up with her because of everything she has been through. And he just seems completely drained by her. Pretty relatable stuff. He doesn't love her anymore, but still sympathizes with her, so what is left is this dull crappy relationship that should absolutely end. In real life, this is a tricky situation, but most likely, the relationship would end without any need for cults or whatever. Sometimes what the movie doesn't show can be implied. How often did this poor guy have to come to the hysterical beckoning of someone suffering from a lot of emotional distress? How often did he have to drop what he was doing to help his girlfriend because she had a panic attack? Not everyone is cut out for that role in a relationship, especially if the spark has already fizzled away, or you are young, or a million other reasons. The way she always cried or freaked out or switched emotions was draining for me to watch. The poor dude did not deserve that fate or any hate for being tired of all this.

[@wabi-sabi5621]

You both are correct.

[@enicot]

This has got to be one of the few times I've seen someone misunderstand two films and then rant about them not making sense. Like a colorblind person complaining that the color palette is dull.

[@kiahcostello6649]

Love the video but bro the sims 1 music in the back ground braught back memories i didnt know i had

[@mangasadie]

Midsommar's end is horrifying for the fact that a lot of people took Dani's acceptance as a good thing. Her relationship with him being the only relationship she had since her family died. Makes you wonder if she would've ended things with him if her family was still in her life. Now she's got a new family... And das no good

[@personnamed2764]

i wonder if her finding a new family is what gives her a sense of worth and thus she is crowned as a queen

[@Videos12ification]

I can't help but think how messed up it is that in her "new family" she has to help raise the child produced by Christian cheating on her.

[@335chr]

@@Videos12ification you misspelled Christian's rape because he was totally raped

[@geeloxoxo2574]

@@Videos12ification he was graped bfr

[@lumityviktuuristanartist4100]

​@@Videos12ification wasn't he r*ped ?

[@immadlad4367]

Nice video, im trying to get into making video essays too... this is a very good example of what an opinion piece should be! Keep it up

[@meeptop]

Really appreciate the kind words! Making videos like this is a great outlet and I hope you enjoy the process. 🙏🏻

[@TarboxArt]

I definitely appreciate how thoughtful your critiques are. What I find interesting about midsommar is that I saw it once, in theaters and to be honest, it was a catalyst for me to end a five year relationship that had become unsalvageable but bound by mutual codependency. I’m not saying midsommar was the end all be all but I felt elated leaving the theater, like I didn’t have any doubt what needed to be done. So for me, because I was in this place where any onlooker could certainly tell that the relationship wasn’t serving anything good to either of us, and bringing out the worst in both of us, it was easier for me to see then and there how attached you could still be I agree that seeing another side to them, or the early stages could have added and maybe I’m a bit biased but I didn’t need it to understand and relate to being held back from doing something so honest and how liberated, if even very painful, letting go was in that moment. Great video btw

[@TarboxArt]

Something so hard*

[@Aucoin-qt7lg]

What’s with the trend of people trying to seem smart and insightful by cutting down and trashing the few examples we get of well made, thematically cohesive movies? Like everyone is desperate to yell that the emperor has no clothes and secure their place as a bold truth-teller, but it’s a bad look that says more about your inability to see value in something than your ability to critique.

[@milkyshakes]

The grief in Aster’s films is honestly my favorite.

[@joshraid1550]

So I have a problem with this review of hereditary. I don't see why Paimon being present is an issue. I'm not sure what it could possibly be instead that would make this work. No matter how it ends, there's still an occult ritual involving the devil, and that's literally the part that makes it a horror movie, and the result of all of their trauma.

[@magnuskallas]

Same here. I just recently revisited Hereditary and after rewatching it with a clear head after 2 years, and knowing so much about it, I really enjoyed that it also works as a straight-up horror film with the demon being real and present in its universe. I've had it with artsy symbolic horror. The "monster created by trauma" element has become a trope. And A24 is guilty of it too. Let's not even start talking about ... Men.

[@joshraid1550]

@@magnuskallas Men is such a stupid movie. The movie could have worked so well as commentary on what it's like to live under sexism if it just acknowledged the men. Like, one KZbinr said that she thought it would be about the paranoia of "have I met this guy before? Am I being stalked by this man?" and that was why they all looked the same. But nope, literally no reason for it.

[@TreadingtheBorderlands]

Yeah idk what he expects to be the cause of it other than something supernatural

[@danielfrome3962]

The reason these films deserve to be so celebrated is because they elevate the metaphorical to the mythical and speak to the human experience in a way that rises above the narrative. This is what has been inherent in the great works of Cinema. The “one dimensional” characters are archetypes typically representative of different parts of a somewhat universal psyche. King Paimon is representative of the selfish power dynamic that perpetuates generational trauma. It’s there to be taken literally if you want, but that’s not the only way to take it.

[@tuckerplum8085]

Dani has gone through unimaginable loss. Horrific loss. Christian knows the relationship is doomed. He absolutely wants out of it. But he can't break-up with this poor woman who has suffered so much loss. He doesn't even want her to go on the trip to Europe! He cannot say the words. The paralysis in their relationship, her anger (her rage), and him being so spineless... that is the whole point. He can't open his mouth and tell her the truth, and he pays quite a big price for his failure to be an adult. They are just going through the motions of relating to each other. They are letting life happen to them. They take no control or responsibility for their own actions. So, the cult decides what happens. (Better to open your mouth and speak, rather than end-up in that bear.) Sidenote: If you can't see that the actor who plays Christian is freaking beautiful, well, all I can say is that you gotta be totally straight. The character might be a complete jerk, but the man is gorgeous.

[@karatechap555]

This the kind of channels that deserve hundreds of thousands of subs. Good analysis man. Im glad im here at 185 subs and will still be here when this blows up. Haha

[@morganleanderblake678]

I think we saw that moment with Dany and Christian very differently. I saw that as him pushing her by refusing to just let her go at her own pace, so now she's ruining it for the gang if she doesn't give in.

[@DefaultProphet]

100% this. Like blatantly so.

[@cc-gx8hr]

I was listening to this without the visuals and I realized your voice sounds almost identical to Ari Aster's ?? Maybe I'm crazy lol but I couldn't tell it was a different person speaking when you switched over to his interviews

[@PeterCleff]

Some solid takes in this video. I bloody love these movies. But It's good to recognize the flaws in great films. I haven't checked if you've covered it, but I'm excited to see what you thought of Beau is afraid. You've gained a sub this day!

[@jamesgatz5301]

The Midsommer bf gets WAY to much heat. He was on the verge of breaking up with her. But her family dies and he is forced into a situation to not abandon her. He invites begrudgingly invites her to his boys trip so she doesn’t have to be alone. She should have said no, she was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Then the man gets abused, his gf ignores him for the cult, he gets drugged, drugged again, raped, all his friends die, then gets burned alive. HE TRIED!!! You can’t dump someone after their family dies, she should have took responsibility.

[@TreadingtheBorderlands]

He didn’t deserve it at all whatsoever. To hear people talk about how he somehow deserved what he got is so ridiculous

[@TheJuggla042]

Thank you at least some people have some critical thinking skills, he was no angel sure I agree but he didn't deserve to be tortured and killed.

[@melodie-allynbenezra8956]

@@TheJuggla042 I agree. None of them should have been tortured and killed, and Christian should not have been sexually assaulted, and killed. But from their own dialogue, Christian's response would have been: It's cultural. I'm trying to keep an open mind. (Until he realized that not all cultures are equal, and that he was just as likely to be killed to be stuffed in the bear as "the honorable Terbyon..." except that Dani saw Christian fornicating with the girl he was making eyes at during the whole trip.) Should he have been killed? No. But then again, none of them should have been killed. I'm rather against human sacrifice. But for Christian, it was cultural. He was experiencing it with an open mind...

[@thejaded]

She couldn't take responsibility because.. I don't know.. Her whole family just died?

[@TheJuggla042]

@@thejaded and so we should just let people act and do what they want because of something bad that happened to them? She's an adult though, yes losing your family sucks but if you are so emotionally stunted that you can't move on in a healthy way that's a "you problem" she takes out her anger on a guy that had loved her but grown apart and didn't want to continue the relationship she should have accepted that but instead she emotionally manipulates him to stay with her.

[@andrewculver64]

Man, you have to keep on making these type of in-depth videos. I love these two movies a lot, and you pointed out some interesting things I wasn’t even able to recognize myself. You’re a great critic and keep up the good work!

[@meeptop]

I can't really express how much I appreciate this comment, honestly. I've got other video ideas floating around, one of which is another in depth film analysis, but per usual it's taking some time to make. Once it's finally out, I hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much for the kind words, it means the world!

[@andrewculver64]

@@meeptop Can't wait for the next one

[@Israfel36]

Okay, so reading through comments and watching this video, and hearing from the director I come away from this thinking this: people like Midsommar through sheer projection of their own problems, because that's quite literally what the director did. It's well shot, great cinematography, well acted, but ultimately high brow schlock.

[@basqye9]

I think your critique is insightful and speaks to similar struggles of other talented writers/directors as well as Ari Aster (I'm thinking of Alex Garland, for example). I wonder if their fear is less a reflection of finding the right "pay off" and more of a technical challenge in finding the true inflection point of conflict. In other words, setting up the expected catharsis and then denying it. I'm thinking about Aried Dorfman's Death of the Maiden; in it (spoiler) a woman confronts her former torturer and through various devices compells him to confess his crime. At the end, at risk of death, he finally does and she spares his life (goal attained; catharsis achieved, the victim overcomes her trauma). But in the final scene we see how that catharxis was unrealized and perhaps unrealizable; we are left with the ambiguous feeling that the devil really escaped his due. And that feeling lingers as we extrapolate from the apparent injustice in the film with our knowledge of the real injustice in the world, i.e. the medium of horror prevails.

[@TheJuRK]

The problem I had with Hereditary was that we never see the family as a family (if they ever were). They start the film eaten up with guilt and distant from each other, so I never connect with anyone. And the ending is a jumbled mess with shots from other horror films, so I loved so much of it...but it's not up with The Exorcist or The Shining. I never saw Midsommar, but I've watched the Critical Drinker's take on it several times, which is very entertaining (and a lot less long). It looked like a drawn-out pretentious take on The Wicker Man, and I get the feeling I would connect with these characters about as well as I did in the trailer (which I didn't). But I agree with everything you say! You are NOT wrong.

[@meeptop]

I slightly disagree with your stance on Hereditary. The family may start off slightly dysfunctional, but we're starting the film off in a place of emotional potency for these characters (the death of a family member). The seeds of guilt are planted, but they're manifested in much less pronounced ways. The interactions between Peter and Annie are very typical of a teenage son and a mother, Annie and her husband seem much more affectionate even when Annie is faintly starting to retrude from him a bit, Annie clearly loves Charlie and is trying to connect with her in this time of grief. I definitely see them as a family at the beginning of the film. Not a perfect family by any means, but what family is? If anything I find the portrayal of their family as more honest and therefore easier to connect to, personally. I also think it's worth noting that you bring up The Shining as an example of a better horror film, but ultimately that film also uses the same narrative structure and family dynamic as Hereditary. I won't get too much into it because I'd like to talk about it in a future video, but the Torrance family is plagued by trauma and abuse right from the beginning. Jack Torrance was a small step away from falling into madness, Danny was already somewhat distant from Jack as a result of the incident that preceded their trip to the Overlook, Wendy already seems overrun by anxiety, etc. The horrific events of the Overlook simply tip the scales further and you watch the characters descend, the exact same way you do in Hereditary. But The Shining is much more ambiguous and up for interpretation, which I find vastly more interesting than it being spelled out for you like Hereditary. As far as Midsommar goes, it is definitely a drawn out Wicker Man homage but I don't think I'd call anything about either of Aster's films pretentious. Especially seeing interviews with him, it's clear the guy just loves horror films and loves using that medium to tell stories that connect with him. He revels in the conventions of horror and wants the audience to have as much fun with it as he does, while still attempting to bring through deeper themes. This both works to his advantage and disadvantage at times, but I don't think he's ever taking himself or what the movie has to say with too much self-seriousness. That being said, I obviously did find the characters in Midsommar hard to relate to on anything other than the surface level because of the lack of nuance. As I said in the video, I'd still recommend you experience the film for yourself but given what you've said here I doubt it'd do much for you emotionally. Thanks for watching and for the comment, I appreciate your input!

[@dylana.9057]

@@meeptop why do you think directors taking their stories in a quite self serious manner , is a bad thing ?

[@meeptop]

@@dylana.9057 I don't think directors taking their work seriously is a bad thing and I never once said that. All I said was I don't think Ari Aster in particular takes that approach, therefore calling his films pretentious doesn't feel like a fair criticism.

[@JesusGomez-ob2qt]

Theirs over 30 minutes of deleted hereditary scenes that show them as a actual family and theirs so many emotional scenes that have made me cry! Ari said he removed most because he purposely wanted the family to feel estranged and broken. He wasn't trying to make the type of film you wanted. I hope we get a version with the deleted scenes added back into the film even if it changes the films entire being

[@jay2thaudy]

Pretty they've always been like this and that was the point.

[@OttoGrainer27]

Woah, woah woah! You didn't say you were gonna spoil Rosemary's Baby! Get the **** outta here! Some of us still gotta catch up!

[@oldensad5541]

First two minutes in, and i get so many conflicted messages... -I love and respect director! -This movies frustrated me! -You know, sometimes you watching bad movies, and deep inside there is a good movie? -This movies are not bad! They good, but they have potential to be great! -Now lets start and i will tell you why they focking terrible! Dude! WTF?! :D

[@maddybeste280]

There are so many really good takes in the comments that I kind of feel like adding to it is pointless, especially after a year, but whatever here’s my thoughts lol (For Midsommar) I’ve never been in a toxic, romantic relationship before, but I was in a toxic and straight up abusive relationship with my mother for almost the first two decades of my life. It’s been really hard for me to seek therapy because I was afraid of somebody pointing out my flaws and things that I did that contributed to what I experienced. So thinking about the fact that Ari Aster was writing this in the midst of his break up, I’m sure he wasn’t in a place to be reflecting and giving himself “constructive criticism.” Particularly if you’ve been in a relationship where somebody used gaslighting against you, you already question yourself on a near daily basis so to finally be rid of that person but still be reflecting on your mistakes is gut wrenching. I think that’s why Dani is so one-dimensional; because sometimes we have to view ourselves as perfect victims, who eventually become a hero, just to cope. (honestly half of my daydreams are revenge fantasies) And I don’t just sympathize with her, I empathize with her for that reason. Because empathizing with somebody who admits to making mistakes, while more realistic, forces me to admit my mistakes as well. All that being said, I know that one dimensional characters are pretty much objectively bad storytelling. I understand and agree that adding some depth to the relationship and making it believable would’ve made the emotional climax more powerful for a wider audience.

[@beebalmbadil]

I appreciate hearing you say "it's just Satan?" like that because it takes some of the power that movie still has over me away a little bit. I'd love to share why Hereditary f*cked me up so bad in the first place, though. In the final end scene, surrounded by naked worshippers, naked headless corpses of Peter's parents, the severed head of his little sister on a mannequin, I felt safe, welcome and taken care of in a way I couldn't shake, then immediately disoriented and disgusted to feel that way on top of it (then credits roll and the upbeat song really emphasizes the "comfort" which makes it even more horrifying because it's so clearly not comforting at all). I think the way it worked in my experience is: through watching Peter go from apathetic burnout teen to traumatized and guilt-ridden, infantalized depression-blob being terrorized to an overwhelming crescendo... then the moment when all the ambiguity is stripped away and everything is explained, that overwhelm and terror finally ease off as does the uneasiness of the ambiguity. The terror in the shadows is brought to light, and they are saying "you're safe now. we did this all for you. you have all the power." as the camera stays fixed to the actor's eyes so intimately, keeping the audience connected, exploiting the bond we made with both Charlie early on and Peter. So, from the way I experienced the movie, the horror of the ending comes from the feeling of relief and even safety in the context of pure evil winning, surrounded by this horrifyingly macabre scene.

[@faggysock2395]

i feel exactly the same!!!! ive watched this movie twice and i still feel so comforted by the ending despite how absolutely fucked it is

[@fanboy3430]

i feel like there is some sympathy for christain tho. I mean you're right, he's a one dimensional asshole but danny is so clingy and needy from the beginning, you understand his frustartion in a way. At least I do. She has just lost her family, so her neediness makes sense but In my opinion she's not as perfect as you make her seem because she does make selfish decisions, like when she decides to go to sweden with christain and his friends. I feel like it was pretty clear she knew they didn't really want her there and same goes for when she is at the party with them in the first part of the movie. I'm not sure if her loss makes her decisions ok and if shes in the right for being selfish in those moments? Personally I also understand why she is in the relationship eventhough he treats her like shit. Its because she has no one else. Her family has just died and i doubt that she would want to lose christain, specifically because she has just lost her family. Because of that I didnt really question why she was still in the relationship. I completley understand your points tho and maybe i need to watch the movie again with your video in mind. Definetley deserves more views!

[@carnuatus]

They're both bad. Christian is worse.

[@eclare13]

This has gotta be one of my favorite analysis of Ari Astor Films. Thank you for this 🙏🏾

[@joseeduardozanettif7482]

The way you highten the volume of the background song is just exquisite

[@kristennelson3190]

Well, I don't know if I agree with you. I LIKED that the movie picked up at the end of their relationship. They are at a point where, yes, I'm sure they were in love with each other, but NOW... they're beyond that. There is no spark left. There is really no hint of why you fell in love to begin with left. They can't even realistically fake it at this point, let alone drudge up enough genuine feeling for each other. I've BEEN in a relationship like that. Where you Know there is no future together, you don't even Want a future together, but you are just too comfortable (or lazy, however you want to look at it) to want to go through any big life changes. It's just easier to try not to upset the apple cart. I thought it was smart, and Much more realistic to show their relationship where they are now, as opposed to stuffing in a bunch of hammy scenes of their past love. I certainly wouldn't have wanted flashbacks, for God's sake. Anyway, that's just what I took from the movie.

[@InLisa_UTrust]

I wish I could watch hereditary for the first time all over again. That scene where the head gets knocked off. Those screams. The state from the brother. The feeling! Ugh I felt it. 😫

[@jodi2847]

"In the real world there are horrible, toxic relationships where all of the blame for everything terrible lies solely on one partner. That absolutely does happen." Not in the West it doesn't, and this film is no exception. Pugh's character is no prize either, and no victim of this bad relationship. The first act, horrific as it was, served as a device to have her cling even harder to false hopes and keep rejecting common sense as women often do. We'd rather be miserable with someone than miserable without. I liked the honest portrayal of a weak protagonist who found all of her strength in the cult's validation. She let them handle what she couldn't handle herself. At the end they made her feel like a literal queen among them, when really all they did was, through emotional manipulation, successfully make her part of their flock.

[@NooneStaar]

I think the idea with both movies is they're twists. You're supposed to be able to think maybe in Hereditary it's all mental illness, not actually a demon summoning ritual. In Midsommer the twist is you think eventually Christian is going to break up with her, but she ends up being the only one out of her friend group to get out of the situation alive in the end, ultimately kinda breaking up with him in a way by choosing him for the ritual.

[@Tamisday]

My experience of Middommer was, “Abused and, as a result, unreliable narrator joins white supremacist death cult, becomes trad wife.” I’d be very surprised to learn that wasn’t the deeper layer at play in the film, because the color pallet, music, etc supports it. The film indoctrinates the viewer, Danny, who was indoctrinated already by Christian (name on purpose) into a toxic relationship is primed to be indoctrinated again by the death cult. It’s not triumphant. I wish Aster would speak to this more directly, and dispel the “bad breakup” surface level reads now that the spoiler moratorium is well passed.

[@peacechickification]

You’re welcome to read that out of the story- but that doesn’t mean that that intention was there by the creator at all. Kurt Vonnegut anonymously took a university class on his works and failed it. John Green speaks really beautifully on the difference between when a work is a creator’s, and when a work becomes an audience’s. You’re allowed to have that interpretation, but to expect aster to ‘dispel’ what his personal intentions of the film were.

[@335chr]

how are they white supremist?

[@donaldhysa4836]

Where the fuck did you get the "white supremacy" from?

[@juannaym8488]

I actually hate how the cult in Midsommar is interpreted to be white supremacist. No they weren't. They were secluded north Europeans, they treated the one black guy in the group like the white guys there. Europeans don't even have the concept of race as Americans do, the concept of white supremacy does not apply

[@TheForeignersNetwork]

Well, at least you recognize that your analysis is extremely superficial

[@grainelev8tor26]

This dude is saying Dani’s and Christian’s emotional arc doesn’t make sense because he and many of the people who watched the movie don’t understand codependent relationships. He is right

[@SovereignTonic]

This was a really good analysis. I remember having a strong and similar feeling in Midsommar - but I remembered the film because the ending and the visuals were so strong. I have SEEN Hereditary and forgotten it because the ending - OOPS wrong body Satan sorrrry - felt like such a cop out

[@Cassiopeian4eva]

I enjoy that we can critic our faves! I totally think we should be talking about our media in so many ways. Sometimes it's not that serious, but sometimes it's nice to see where things could've gone

[@WickerSticksSinema]

I see your points but Hereditary is a dark and hopeless film. Our characters are brought down so low and kicked while they are down. They are literally brought down to the depths of hell. Which physically happens in the film to all of them. We are slowly watching the family go to hell together. There are many themes of course you can take out of that however The point is that we are seeing a family be brought down to the lowest possible.

[@nathanielcava4128]

Honestly I feel bad for Christian even though that may be the unpopular answer. I’ve dated someone like Dani minus the family suicide lol. While he is made to be the bad guy, I get how draining dating someone like her is even if it isn’t her fault. I was at the point where I just held things in and didn’t share because everything was a problem and the clinging just pushes you away. While he wasn’t a great a guy persay I hate how he is made to be the toxic bf character.

[@dora8930]

if you watch the midsommar deleted scenes you'll realize that christian is more of a dick than an emotionally drained boyfriend (he picked a fight with her because she brought him flowers and he felt he was being a bad boyfriend)

[@pizzapizza6722]

@@dora8930deleted though so it’s not actually his character

[@carnuatus]

The thing is, the theatrical release doesn't show the cut scene where Christian is gaslighting her. So, I don't feel bad for him. At all.

[@maxrevive592]

The fact that y’all are defending Christian to this day means the movie worked in convincing you.

[@hasphine7585]

I think Hereditary's satanic themes hit harder when you're religious. It may seem like a cheap cop out but it was genuinely disturbing to see how a cult had dominion over 3 generations of a family in order to essentially sacrifice them for their own goals. The last shot where the cult members were bowing, praising Paimon, made me feel sick. Midsommar also continues this theme of showing how disturbing some pagan rituals actually are, how they brutally sacrifice others like their elderly and Josh, Connie, Simon etc. to preserve their traditions and hold their community together. It's disturbing to see how they engage so willingly and are so positive about it. It reflects the Paimon cult in hereditary, who are brought together by the family they intend to sacrifice/use as vessels to bring Paimon into existence.

[@leetyrrell]

Which modern pagan rituals actually do this?

[@notdeadjustyet8136]

I agree. I hate how plastic the characters of midsomar feel. And plastic is the true description.

[@JohnSmith-do4oe]

Nice points, but I think you miss out on something that will make you look at Midsommar's ending completely differently. For me, the reason why Dani struggles so hard at the end to choose between two people to die is never because she cares for Christian. No, she absolutely has no will to save Christian by the end of it and just wants to flee the cult with or without him. So why does she struggle? Like I said, she wants to flee the cult! At that point, to her, there's still a teeny weeny bit of chance to escape, by geting Christian back! Unsound plan? Of course! Dani realizes that too. At the end, it is more than obvious to her that the cult wants her to choose Christian (to save their own blood) and wants her to join the "family" (to bring in new blood). They even explain the whole thing in English for Dani to understand and even say that they will "wait patiently for the fair queen". They planned her struggle too! So at that point she has two options, first, save Christian and gain a slightly more chance on escaping through the number and get a massive chance of getting both killed instantly by the cult. Second, join the cult. Which one sounds more plausible? This also explains her smile at the end. At first she's grieving at the inevitable, i.e. joining a f**king cult! But later she finds the only way to cope with things now is to accept. This is an extreme case of Stockholm Syndrome where the captor is a cult and where the captive doesn't have any choice at all!

[@meeptop]

I definitely appreciate this insight and point of view! I just feel like the ending's impact, and the resonance of the story in general, entirely depends on how you interpret the central idea of the film. If you feel the film is supposed to portray how emotionally vulnerable people can be enticed and ultimately consumed by cults, then the ending is largely impactful. But to me personally, and supposedly according to Ari Aster from the interviews I've watched, the theme of the film is central to Dani and Christian's relationship. On that level, the ending still doesn't impact me regardless of what Dani or the cult's ultimate intentions were because I do not have any emotional investment in that relationship. But, as always, all art including films are up to interpretation. There's no one right way to view a film, even if the filmmaker explicitly tells you what they were trying to achieve. At the end of the day, I think your interpretation lends itself to feel more emotional than mine does!

[@sedi2066]

I never thought of it in that way at all... now the smile at the end makes a little more logical and practical sense

[@kristalcampbell3650]

I agree with you. I don't think the central these is "let go of toxic relationships" it's that life circumstances or dispositions can leave us vulnerable to toxic relationships. She traded one form of emotional abuse for an extreme other form. Every single thing the Harga do is to further facilitate their estrangement the same way granny does in hereditary. Does Christian suck? Yes. He also was drugged and raped and they set it up so that it looked like cheating to her. If he were more sympathetic we would see the Harga for who they are and so would Danny. There'd by no conflict in the viewer everyone would agree "choose the harga guy".

[@mischr13]

I think she's fully "in" with them once she sees Christian with a child. There's no more thoughts of escape after that moment. It was set up that way by the cult on purpose, there's no forgiveness after that. She smiles because she thinks she's free but in reality she exchanged one toxic relationship for another

[@mischr13]

P.S. everyone forgets she's a child for some reason? the movies goes out of its way to tell you her age. then everyone defends christian by saying he was drugged, but he literally says "I don't want to have a bad trip" when he's handed the drink, then he looks over at the girl (CHILD) that he KNOWS is set to have sex with him, then decides to get high...in the HOPES of hooking up because he knows the drug is supposed to "lower his inhibitions". I don't know WHY this gets glossed over. he was still taken advantage of by the cult while intoxicated and that's never ok, but his intentions leading up were unforgiveable

[@allisonfields3108]

Fucking insane that you are under 100 subs. You're gonna blow up soon, and I can't wait to watch it happen. These are well made and very entertaining videos under your belt. Keep it up!

[@meeptop]

I'm really stoked you're enjoying what I'm making and I immensely appreciate the kind words. I don't know if I'll ever really "blow up," but I'm more than happy with the way things are growing. I'll keep it up and hopefully you keep enjoying the videos!

[@thatonechick1318]

8:44 I have to say I appreciate your choice of music from The Sims 1. 💚

[@AbrahamOfWorms]

I don’t think the ending undercuts the themes at all. It is not an art house movie, it’s a horror movie, and it’s one of the most satisfying and expertly crafted horror endings ever. It doesn’t undercut the themes to have a satisfying unambiguous ending to the literal (using this word the right way) plot of the movie. There is still ambiguity there as far as theme is concerned.