The True Horror Of Midsommar (Feat. Jack Saint)

[@TheWarrrenator]

Yeah, Dani is not happy, she’s brainwashed.

[@TheWarrrenator]

Also thank you for calling out Ari Asher’s ongoing ableism.

[@Gorgo-22056]

thats not mutual exclusive...also, every form of socialisation is a form of brainwashing.

[@erichodosh2933]

Why can't it be both?

[@erichodosh2933]

@@Gorgo-22056 oops you already said what I said. One like coming up

[@letsallgetalong5499]

Yes, that's what cults do, brainwashing!

[@alexp7016]

this video is a high production value remix of the "you are not immune to propaganda" garfield meme and i for one do adore this

[@vantahawk2834]

You say who?

[@jaxon19kira]

This video literally is propaganda.

[@vantahawk2834]

​@@jaxon19kira How so? Or are you just mad someone is taking film analysis into a political direction? I get it, who doesn't want to just put their brain on stand-by when watching movies. Bc nothing in media is ever political unless it has lesbian characters in it I guess..

[@vantahawk2834]

@@OwenOfElliott True that.

[@StainsStainsStains]

Pelle is a classic recruiter. Personable, charismatic, good looking, has a natural charm about him… all traits a cult wants to see in someone they want to use to recruit victims.

[@yvette9]

It's also important to mention that he says his parents died in a fire and he was embraced by the community, they could have easily been sacrificed and, now orphan, he was trapped and raised by the cult.

[@javieralvarez1072]

I hated Pelle, stroke me as sneaky and fake.

[@LindaHimesama]

@@javieralvarez1072 Oh, he was a victim as much as a recruiter. It happens in muslim societies and Indian societies. They are mysoginst societies, but the ones who perpetuate the mysoginy are mainly the mothers teaching their sons they're more important and teaching the daughters they're born to serve. And they do it because it was done to them. That is why breaking away from mysoginy and fascism and racism is so hard

[@KaeBae_]

I’d argue that it’s more Socialist than Fascist and here’s why: Fascism is dictatorial, where one individual reigns supreme over the entire state. The dictator controls every aspect of the citizens and criticism of said leader is a punishable offense. In this community, we don’t see a single dictator who controls the people in the community. Instead, we see that the entire community works as a whole for the betterment of each person. This community demonstrates the utopian form of socialism; we see that everyone in the community is very content with their lives and the structure of their community. There are various different “leaders” such as the counsel, the May Queen, etc. It also evident that no one in this community is being forced to do things against their will. They accept and approve of all of the inner workings of the community. The people do not have private property, as they share all resources with the others in the community. The members also have freedom to leave and return, Pelle, for example, was able to leave without any repercussions. Yes, he did lure his friends to this group, but we don’t have any indication that he was forced to be bait for the group.

[@tantanmustdie]

@@KaeBae_ We haven't really witnessed anyone leaving (without the intention to come back with more people like Pelle) so how can you be sure the cult is okay with that? They sure didn't want Josh to spread information about the scripture to the outside world.

[@trewhite7903]

"For Dani, its a fantasy adventure of self-discovery. But for everyone else, its a folk horror film." - Ari Aster

[@zneusenrunus7395]

… as Dani “discovers” her parents among the members at the last ritual..

[@kstar1489]

@@zneusenrunus7395 holy shit really? Damn

[@sofiacatarina3358]

"But if you always felt held, what could a cult ever offer you?". That hit me, because I am so blessed to have that. To have a loving and caring family. Cults feed on loneliness.

[@tarakennedy707]

I mean I've never felt held but I do have a moral compass.

[@LindaHimesama]

this is the problem in central america and latin america. Gangs offer family, protection, belonging to kids in the street. Then they're trapped in a hitman group you can't leave dealing drugs until you're killed. All for that sense of being held

[@entertainmentjunkie]

@@LindaHimesama that’s different then a cult though

[@imachavel]

Waco. Jon Jones. Every sick cult truly believes they have a family and are doing the right thing. Until they are the victim. Good point. Also Hollywood is like a cult some people join. I guess there is no getting out of that cult.

[@wildcosmia5018]

when I saw that scene of the women crying with Dani, my immediate thought was "oh this is love bombing," ya know, a classic tactic of cults

[@twincitiestara]

Also the breathing in sync, which was a theme throughout the movie but came to a peak in that moment (mirrored by the women moaning along with the sex scene in the other building), was one of the CREEPIEST things I've ever seen in a movie. Damn was that horrifying.

[@kiarahiltz2996]

could someone explain to me what “love bombing” means, please? i have an idea given the context but an explanation would be much appreciated :)

[@twincitiestara]

@@kiarahiltz2996 It's a manipulation tactic often used by cults, going back at least to the Moonies in the 1970s. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_bombing

[@lanaanghel8771]

God that scene freaked me out so much. The worst part was the fact that the women didn't even try to stop Dani from seeing Christian cheat on her. Sure they told her not to go see him, but no one physically tried to stop her. It makes it seem like they just wanted to get her into an even more vulnerable position, as they try to convince her that they somehow empathize with Dani's pain by screaming with her. Unfortunately, their tactics end up working, and Dani is just drawn into joining the cult even more.

[@Alex-fu3mi]

@@kiarahiltz2996 if you get brought to a cult, the members will immediately be able to tell if you're a member or an insider - based on clothing, affect, speech, mannerisms, insider language etc. In the interest of recruitment, you'll be met with dozens of people excited to see you, to welcome you to the service, asking you how you found out about them and your interest, invitations to future services or to casual events like barbeques, bible studies, movie nights. They'll put on their best face for you and present as an idyllic community you could be a part of if you join: that's love bombing. Source: having been love-bombed and participated in it myself

[@sumemr2081]

I left an abusive husband and landed immediately (but breifly!) in a cult. This checks out and hits hard.

[@KayAndSkittles]

God damn! I'm glad it was brief.

[@sumemr2081]

@@KayAndSkittles you and me both!

[@citizencj3389]

Man cults scare the shit out of me. I dont know how you people do it LOL....I found the movie quite jarring from this aspect. That part where they force fed Dani a raw fish really made my stomach turn.

[@Thisisaweirdthing2makeusdo]

I have always thought abusive relationships are like a cult. I’m glad to hear your not in that relationship and hope you are happy now.

[@breem2999]

@Gmail Account I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. Please know you are worthy of respect, safety, and love. -from someone who is in a similar situation.

[@Nerdgasm9001]

The real horror of Midsommar is that so many people miss the horror of Midsommar.

[@melonie_peppers]

Yes they think the take away is good and believe me so many are yet to replicate

[@wanderingintime]

too many movies fit this description :/

[@Powered1Buttercup]

Too many people see this movie as a #girlpower movie What a way to miss the point

[@daphneyspiritrue7008]

exactly! it's astonishing and frankly quite disturbing how people speak in favor of this sick deranged sociopathic cult, and constantly overly critisize Christian and his friends but nobody ever mentions Pelle, who is actually the biggest and most evil villain in this whole situation, it's like 90% of the people who watched this film have been successfully brainwashed by the Harga, which is a testament to how good Ari Asters writing is, but also a comment on how psychologically weak people are

[@duantorruellas716]

They missed it in the heavens gate cult too , but it was too late after they woke up dead hahahahaha

[@WillCoddington]

Midsommar, a.k.a "You Are Not Immune To Propaganda: The Movie"

[@criticalthinkingconcubus]

It’s funny when people are certain that they’d never get indoctrinated into a cult, yet these same people claim that Dani had a happy ending.

[@Hakajin]

I don't know if that's the point... I mean, the first two to go were the ones who weren't having it. I think cults are excellent at recognizing those who are never gonna buy in and getting rid of them (although not usually so brutally, lol), because cultish thinking cannot stand up to people expressing doubt or rejection.

[@HelloKitty60621]

spot on

[@CorbCorbin]

@@Hakajin Yes. Aster even fooled people into believing that the cult is pro woman, snd a far better place, than with the boyfriend, as if she’d never have gotten away from him. He wasn’t physically abusive, snd really wants out of the relationship. So what makes people say that he’s worse than the murderous cult? Aster’s script, actually ends with her in a vegetative state, completely gone, no individual, no sanity left.

[@Barakon]

Am I? Cuz I hissed more or less through out all of the cult’s screen time.

[@davidkonevky7372]

midsommar has successfully proven that people are easily manipulated into cults. Not just by Dani, but by the audience itself

[@CeliaTyree]

I honestly think it's very daring to assume everyone who didn't find the ending horrific would be a perfect cult victim and viceversa.

[@Liliquan]

That’s not what proof is. Evidence is not fictional.

[@Markustempest]

Is it really a cult though? It’s just a community of traditional pagans. Cults are usually centered around central authorities who are benefiting from it in some way and know that their religion is made up.

[@Zarastro54]

@@Markustempest That’s a contemporary colloquial understanding of a cult. All a cult needs is a group of people adhering to sinister, usually absolute rules. They aren’t “traditional pagans” as there is no precedent for this kind of brutal ritual in Scandinavian mythology.

[@Zarastro54]

Speak for yourself bud. I had red flags the moment they entered the gate.

[@rampagingFurniture]

Finally a take that acknowledges how messed up these people were! This poor kid got dragged from one abusive situation into another.

[@Logitah]

That's what I was thinking! The horror comes from the disgusting feeling that it is a happy ending for her, but it comes from insanity, murder and racism. EDIT: Also, in the end I was fully aware that nothing good awaits Dani. Perhaps it was because I never felt safe while watching the film. My autistic arse hated the constant sunlight which never let me out of other people's sight! I hate it when I have no alone time whatsoever and would have immediately yeeted out of the place.

[@CSGraves]

It's kinda like when you see multiple positive reviews of Craig Zahler's movies, and then someone finally comes out & mentions some dogwhistley racist undertones.

[@dustmemory9891]

She didn't get dragged anywhere. She forcibly insinuated herself into the situation and got just what she wanted in the end!

[@brianlav1]

@@Logitah "My autistic arse hated the constant sunlight which never let me out of other people's sight! I hate it when I have no alone time whatsoever and would have immediately yeeted out of the place." I am not autistic, but as an introvert I can relate.

[@Nujaqdademon]

Dust Memory I think she was more led to believe it was her idea. The cultist (I don’t remember the name) had his sights on her from the beginning he saw how vulnerable she was and made his move

[@Mexie]

Wow I did *not* see that as a happy ending at alllll lol, I’m shocked so many people saw it that way

[@Mexie]

They effectively rape her ex, too

[@KayAndSkittles]

@@Mexie Yeah it's fucked up man! I watched a bunch of videos about this movie and so few people even mention that.

[@shortjohnsilver4605]

Right? It's not like he had any choice, the girl chose him so now he had to do it. Yikes

[@misatchi]

@@Mexie And to add insult to injury they make her believe he is willingly doing it. Christian was a shithead but he wasn't cheating on her and they deserved to end things on their terms. I get the symbolism and I can relate to Dani feeling some sort of release from letting her bad relationship and trauma burn away but this film isn't just a metaphorical story. The characters all act very real and matter to the story.

[@regulardog]

very few people point out that the cult literally raped christian like i don't think it's supposed to be a "fuck yeah!!! kill him he deserved it!" and it bothered me how many people who both liked and disliked the movie saw it like that (as in people who disliked it saying that it glorified sacrificing christian regardless of his lack of agency there)

[@aveia.em.flocos]

Finally a take about midsommar that doesn't romanticize cults

[@Andor.]

YES! God i hated all the takes that "cults... kinda good" when its clearly so parasocial and unhealthy! I never liked that interpretation at all.

[@Logitah]

Especially when the movie doesn't do it either. The message that everybody in this cult is, more or less, fucked comes through very clearly.

[@dunnejos8423]

Every organized religion of the modern day are cults too so... I think we've already romanticized them.

[@zeechops401]

Honestly! I love reading up and listening to anything when it comes to the dynamics and psychology of cults and when I saw the movie I was very impressed with how it showed the emotional manipulation that is implemented in all cult recruitments. I expected it to go over the general audiences heads a bit, but hearing analysis to this movie where people are saying "Danny is with people who will care for her" I'm like NO THAT WASNT THE POINT!!

[@Godzillakuj94]

@@dunnejos8423 this

[@paige5560]

As someone who was in a cult and left after realizing the ways that it was manipulating me, after seeing this movie I was immediately aware of the horror of the ending, and in no way even considered that one could see it as happy. I was shocked to learn that the person who was with me, and later people in general, saw the ending as uplifting. Once you understand the true horror of a cult it's hard to ever see them as positive again.

[@CEIVE4EVER]

Yep, luckely I never have been in a sect, but I understood what was happening. I approve that a director doesn't need to say in a movy, "ey that's awful" but is very dangerous in this context. Even the actor who role's Pelle doesn't think that he is a bad guy and he also says that he did love Dani. It's very frustraring. Congrats for being outside that kind of horror.

[@valid_sound_and_furious8413]

Does anyone else find it telling that Pelle says his parents "burned up in a fire"? Maaaybe a ritual sacrifice fire? More horror -- that he's still loyal to and recruiting for the group that talked his parents into sacrificing their lives.

[@Monarch_Prime]

And that's one reason why midsommar is terrifying. The harga are demons but appear as angels.

[@malteasermidnight7200]

his parents definitely died in a ritualistic fire, but the thing is how he said it to Dani, who at that point, does not know of the ritual. He phrased it like some accident, something tragic and unforeseen to better connect to Dani's own tragedy and essentially manipulates her that way. He KNOWS that saying it was a deliberate cult sacrifice thing would deter her, but he doesn't see it as wrong, only something she wouldn't understand.

[@r0saa13]

this was posted a year ago but the rituals happened every 90 years so i doubt that’s likely

[@CEIVE4EVER]

@@r0saa13 it's a fucking lie. There are 18 mayqueens in pics. He couldn't say, well, we kill every year 9 guys in order to make a vote to the gods for prosperity...

[@Zarastro54]

@@r0saa13 It’s possible it was a different ritual for a different season.

[@Carols989]

nobody gonna talk about how the ex's name is literally CHRISTIAN tho

[@PseudoMystic]

Part of what I liked about the film is that in addition to implicitly illustrating how modern society fails to provide for peoples' social/psychological needs, and how cults can opportunistically exploit this (as Kay&Skittles pointed out), I think it's also meant to implicitly show how mainstream organized religion has failed us as well, with the 'idyllic' depiction of a pagan community that makes pretty much any modern church look like shit.

[@dccalling5960]

Right?

[@MsTinkerbelle87]

Best part!

[@kristyhughes3146]

Thank you for this.

[@mooominpapa]

@@PseudoMystic the pagan family makes Christianity look like shit not necessarily because of the different values but because the family lives in a beautiful, non-capitalist countryside. Like the sacrifices which mainstream Abrahamic religions don't really encourage for regular people besides Abraham and his son when he was ordered to sacrifice him, so it has nothing to do with values and everything to do with geographic location. Danny gets to completely forgot about the funeral costs, college deadlines etc... And gets to just dance, eat, sleep among a community that welcomes her for free.

[@christianwise637]

Ari Aster actually said in an interview: "I would say I was going for a sort of toxic catharsis. The end is designed to be very cathartic because we’ve established a dynamic and the movie does a lot of work to align you with one half of this relationship. So there is then this punishment that’s laid out for the other half that should feel cathartic because again, you’ve been against him through the movie. But it should be something that kind of catches in the throat and maybe in the moment feels invigorating and maybe in retrospect, one would have to wonder, ‘Is it entirely justified?’ But I think that’s something that’s kind of magical and also dangerous about movies: you can manipulate people to become kind of bloodthirsty." The ending of Midsommar is certainly cathartic, but I don't think it's accurate to call it a "happy ending", and I think a lot of the people who watch this film seem to miss the point that the two don't necessarily equate

[@PseudoMystic]

"toxic catharsis" same vibe I got from the ending of Hereditary. Thanks for actually looking into what the director himself has said.

[@dunnejos8423]

I totally get where Ari is coming from but he kind of... Does present Dani's boyfriend as absolutely milquetoast and terrible at emotional availability. I would have gotten that read from the film if he where really struggling with how to come to terms with ending their relationship or some sort of conflict but there really isn't any. So it's one sided not because we are MADE to empathize with Dani, but because her boyfriend is written specifically to be emotionally closed off and unresponsive. To me, the cult is completely fictive, and the fallout of their relationship is more the actual story. The cult is the vehicle to deliver a bad breakup story more or less, I honestly didn't take the cult aspect that seriously at all, it was way too hammy and over the top (not complaining I loved it). But people have all these hot takes on how people enjoy violence, or some take on how Dani getting retribution is bad and I'm like... No that cult shit is just bonkers, there's no deeper meaning to it. You could literally tear the cult aspect out and replace it with a quirky slasher flick, or a melodrama, or any other genre film as the backdrop and it would still be about their unsatisfying relationship and breakup.

[@Kanjo_Bazooie]

@@dunnejos8423 he wrote christian like that because thats the exact last thing that Dani needed. The tipping point for dani to be willing to join

[@gonzoengineering4894]

@@dunnejos8423 if you think the cultshit is batshit you've never seen a cult in action. It's dialed up to 11 and filtered through a psychedelic haze, but it's still chillingly real.

[@13Gisang]

​@@dunnejos8423 Aster wrote this film after going through a particularly painful breakup and wrote himself in the role of the shitty boyfriend- go back and look at how often Christian is depicted as a literal reflection early on in the film. IMO I think it ultimately was his attempt to see the break-up from his ex's point of view, AND come to terms with the end of the relationship. That's why I think the perspective in the film is so one-sided, and it's also the reason the ending provides a certain level of emotional closure...in a fucked up way (but that's kinda par for the course with Aster's work).

[@Carols989]

isn't there a saying that's basically about how red flags aren't obvious if you are wearing rose colored glasses? cuz, yeah

[@Gaea2378]

"You know, it's funny; when you look at someone through rose-colored glasses, all the red flags just look like flags." - Wanda the Owl, BoJack Horseman

[@greentaigo2552]

Correct me if I'm wrong and it was said somewhere else before but that quote was originated from Bojack Horseman, which btw is an amazing show that everyone should watch

[@kristennelson3190]

Never heard that saying before, but I instantly love it!!!😁🖤

[@spookyho5994]

That’s from Bojack Horseman, love that show 😭

[@DUWANGlai_kangyi]

I've recently finished the series and I need to know if this saying has been around for longer or if the writers came up with it. I'm not a native English speaker so I don't know much about sayings and figures of speech.

[@diamonddogez4270]

Pele is a terrifying character, because of how nice he presents himself, and how he manipulates and reassures Dani.

[@jharris3267]

He’s done this before. After all the May Queen is every 90 years but the sacrifice is yearly.

[@Cessounette]

​@@jharris3267the May Queen isn't every 90 years - there are several photos of the previous May Queens...

[@theShaggy]

There are people who thought that Midsommar was unironically a happy ending? This is distressing to me. How did you get to that final shot and think "yes, good for her, she's happy now?" I was squirming in my goddamn seat about how unsettling that feeling actually was.

[@kstar1489]

Ikr I totally feel you and agree!

[@BadKEMistry]

I never even considered the fascist implications, but I definitely saw Dani as doomed. It's obvious that the cult members are untrustworthy, regardless of their intentions. It's believable that they even let her win the May dance on purpose. It was all wrapped it up so neatly.

[@poego6045]

I figured her winning was totally part of the plan. It just gave off that vibe, how EVERYONE there was tuned into her alone. It felt so fucking creepy the whole time.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

It's cuz the cults operate first by showering new members in love and praise and THEN they suddenly and inexplicably take it all away, completely destroying the person's self esteem, and THEN they shower them in love in praise once again and it just keeps going like that.

[@rrringles]

Another tactic of cults is cutting off their target from people in their life that aren't cult related (family, friends, etc.). All the people Dani came with were slowly picked off one by one, and her family was gone. They made sure there were no people for her to return to.

[@MCDexX]

She's a fresh womb full of new genes for their community, not a human being. I suppose that's tru of everyone in the cult, though: regimented life, rigid gender roles, you even have to kill yourself when you get too old. Everyone is just a disposable part of a larger machine with no inherent value as an individual.

[@jaxon19kira]

There wasnt fascist implications. The creators literally told everyone what it was about. He drew those conclusions through correlations and then used it to feed his own weird socialist world view. The summary of this entire video is that because cults are bad the entire world needs to behave like one..... this dude is a master at manipulation and his ideas are a not only flawed they are pretty fucked up. He basically summed up all humans by saying that they wont be able to say no to cults because they arent smart enough like he is. Hes fucked in the head. Just good at making videos.

[@deannas2778]

The ending is her being trapped all over again. They won't let her leave after what she saw, then she's gonna be murdered at 72.

[@debstherottie472]

but she's entering into it knowing. she just wanted a new 'family' and got 1

[@blacklightredlight2945]

Being trapped in a society that couldn't care less about me, vs being trapped in one that cares for every member of the community. I'll take the cult thx.

[@metanoia3438]

Blacklight Redlight yikes 😬

[@blacklightredlight2945]

@@metanoia3438 It is a yikes lol, that a cult is better than normal society.

[@irinauuuu]

or earlier from those shitty cult ceremonial murder

[@JK-hr6py]

I'm confused at how anyone could watch this and not conclude it was about a girl being groomed into a cult

[@blacklightredlight2945]

Probably because a lot of people feel powerless nowadays, since the only people with a power in their voice are the ultra rich. The poor can scream about the injustice of their masters, but they have no choice but to keep working that walmart job and barely survive while racking up debt, because moving to a place with more opportunity costs money they don't have. I'd probably run right into their arms, even with the horrors of the cult, it's better than the horrors of modern society.

[@jaxon19kira]

Everyone did. This dude made up a bunch of shit to fit the narrative he wanted and then said people are too stupid to see the point that it was about being vulnerable and excepting help from the wrong people so we need to have socialist values. This video had shit logic and made so many baseless claims. This dude need to get out of his house more.

[@Blackgriffonphoenixg]

@@cblka Don't argue with him, he's already in a cult himself, spewing dumb shit like he does.

[@missyc13]

I think that is because we don't see someone who escaped a cult tell their story but we where seeing it as if we where there, being groomed with Dani together, I have to say I felt relieved at the end of the film because I was entirely brainwashed. If I hadn't watched an analysis beforehand I would probably go find a cult, lucky for me, I have a chronic illness so living far away from a city will get difficult.

[@madd1ec0v]

@@jaxon19kira I've watched quite a few analysis' of this film and most of them see it as a happy ending, majority of the comments too...

[@LethallxVanity]

I feel SO VINDICATED by this! I thought the ending of Midsommar was horrifying, but my friends kept insisting it was a happy ending because her boyfriend was a shithead and I was like “but he was raped, and everyone else was senselessly murdered, and Pele and the cult manipulated her, and she’s been completely indoctrinated. Everyone in this movie is awful. This is a deeply disturbing movie for completely different reasons than y’all are thinking”. And then every other video was like “yay happy ending!” And I was like “am I missing something here??”

[@bored_ape9661]

You are not missing anything. When people have unprocessed anger, they get a dirty high out of watching some a-hole die a gruesome death. There are so many misguided and ignorant voices in pop (fake) Buddhism and even in therapy circles who more or less tell men and women that anger = bad. But anger in and of itself isn't bad, as long as it is brought into the sunlight and then metabolized in HEALTHY ways. Anger if suppressed or denied ferments into generalized rage and even generalized hate. Or, in a less dramatic example, you become someone who watches Midsommar and is like "good ending, THAT guy deserved to burn alive."

[@almasarajlic6488]

IKR!!!! I felt like the only sane person in the room at the end of this, which in turn made me question my own sanity lol

[@genericusername5500]

@@almasarajlic6488 naw if anything it jst proves we wouldn’t be indoctrinated into a cult. This movie was disturbing

[@BreakCards]

I’m relieve to find these comment and this vídeo. Because my experience was exactly the same. I didn’t see a happy ending. I just saw a fascist cult that take oportunity of vulnerable girl to add to the cult.

[@millsykooksy4863]

its beautiful and horrific

[@beepbopboop7727]

The thing is with this film is that they've only showed you the Honeymoon phase. We know that the cult is capable of rape, murder, drugging, and encouraging their members to commit suicide, but these are milestones that are slowly worked up to. When Dani realises how much pain this cukt has actually caused her, she'll be too trapped to leave. And if she tried to, she knows she will be killed. Maybe in 90 yeas right?

[@martinabramante5218]

technically 72, since they don't allow people to age more than that

[@rrringles]

I never saw the ending as positive. Christian and his friends did some offensive things, for sure, but they didn't deserve to be murdered and dismembered like they were. What really upsets me at the end is that they gave the two volunteer sacrifices some substance and said "drink from the yew tree, feel no pain," AND YET the volunteers are clearly conscious and screaming in pain when they get burned alive. They subjected two members of THEIR OWN COMMUNITY to unimaginable pain (even if the yew poison killed them part way through). In that moment I felt the Harga's so called empathy wasn't real at all, just some twisted performance.

[@misatchi]

I think they make themselves believe it's real. If they knew how much the fire actually hurt, they wouldn't sacrifice their own. No one survives to tell them "HEY THAT REALLY HURTS DON'T DO THAT!!!" so they'll never know and they will keep falsely believing that they feel no pain. I think in that moment those Harga members being burned realize how wrong they were to trust this community. I also think the old guy that initially survives to jump realizes in his horrific pain that this isn't actually a good practice. I think he would have preferred them to help him and let him heal but they come up with a giant mallet and smash his skull in. The rest of the cult believes it is beautiful because they do not actually seem to grasp physical pain. They see a man in agony on the ground and would rather kill him than try to aide him. They watch people burn but wail and scream so they don't hear their screams of pain in the fire. This is the true nature of cults. They want you to feel safe and loved up until the moment you die because the minute they are exposed by the outside world, their control and following falls apart.

[@mistressgenevieve5726]

The only positive is that she felt a moment of relief. You empathize with her despite the horrors. You’ve wanted her to heal the whole film.

[@DocBree13]

and I don’t think Christian got the small amount of relief from the Yew tree medication that the others got - he was just paralyzed - I’m glad you brought this up, because it really bothered me how they blatantly lied to their own cult members and let them suffer like that - what other nasty surprises are around the corner for Dani to find out?

[@rrringles]

@@mistressgenevieve5726 I know, right? She finally breaks up with Christian and has found a new community where she feels "held", but she's been manipulated and gaslit into their community, which doesn't bode well.

[@TheVegasbabyg]

It was definitely performance, the wailing really bothered me . It wasn’t empathetic at all.

[@ebisawkward]

I feel like not enough people talk about the fact that Christian got raped. And it feels like Dani was meant to find him. Yes Christian was terrible to Dani and there were parts of the movie that felt cathartic (despite recognizing how messed up the cult was, seeing a group of women holding each other and crying together did something), but the whole thing of the cult and Pele supporting Dani had an undercurrent of manipulation.

[@deannas2778]

I agree...he was drugged, and towards the end they actually forced his movements....he was an asshole but damn

[@elfa6362]

Every video I've watched about Midsommar, multiple people talk about his rape, so I don't know where you get the idea from nobody talks about it. It's always in the comment section.

[@briacide]

I think he was raped, but keep in mind that he took the drug KNOWING it will cause him to lose his "defenses" and give into his urges, he declined it at first, but then looked at the girl that(we can most likely agree) he accepted to impregnate, THEN took the drink. It's kinda a gray area, but the woman who gave him the drug drink described exactly what it did before he took it, and he checked out the girl(as extra confirmation that hes ready) before doing it.

[@EvilDick1995]

elfa that’s what I was gonna say, it gets brought up a lot

[@cherylpyodeamedha9346]

@@briacide didn't they also blow some weird smoke face before that sex ritual? I'm pretty sure that was a drug as well and he didn't take that willingly.

[@apologist.mp3]

One of the things that really bothers me about the narrative around Midsommar is people saying Christian cheated on Dani. He was drugged! He was a shitty boyfriend, no doubt, and Dani doesn’t know he was drugged, so her initial reaction makes sense, but he was drugged and therefore couldn’t consent to having sex. I think that sort of adds to the horror of it, that they manipulate Dani into turning on her boyfriend.

[@fuccwit9098]

Yess no one has really talked about this. Imagine if Christian was female, everyone would talk about it as a terrible rape scene. But since it’s a dude, it doesn’t matter I guess?

[@elilass8410]

His actor flat out described it as rape too.

[@apologist.mp3]

Fucc Wit I think it’s less of a “It doesn’t matter” and more that people just forget that men can be drugged and raped too???

[@damnyankeega]

I wouldn’t even describe him as shitty. He wanted to break up before Dani’s family all died and stayed to help support her through her trauma. He obviously felt some obligation towards her. She was also described as being needy and clingy before her family died.

[@fuccwit9098]

apologist. Maybe I worded it weird but that’s what I meant

[@HelloKitty60621]

No one talks about how Christian got raped, he was so heavily drugged that they had to "help him" move. It was horrific and no one deserves that, not him or any other random assholes.

[@sensationssz]

THATS WHAT IM SAYING

[@taylorbarnes525]

L take

[@Ravioli-uw9uy]

Dude he already had his eyes on her and was into her, this was something he was waiting for. He was thrusting by himself for a good bit. No one held a gun to his head.

[@ms.annthropic6341]

@@Ravioli-uw9uySo freaking what?? If you gave someone MDMA and they wound up having sex with someone they’d kind of been interested in it would still be fucked up to view that as a person “giving consent”.

[@ms.annthropic6341]

Very true, him being on that particular drug trip, starting with him asking the man at the table what’s going on like he’s scared and lost and disconnected from everything around him, is probably the only instance in the film of me feeling bad for him. Christian sucks, he’s a bad partner and he should have just broken up with Dani the year before like he’d wanted instead of just checking out like he did, but he’s clearly being preyed on/low key tormented from the moment he finds out the redheaded girl put her pubes/menstrual blood in his food. He’s freaked out afterwards and doesn’t know what to do, from the moment he’s drugged you can tell he’s just sort of going with the flow /acting on instinct because he doesn’t really know how to operate, which isn’t him giving consent for the situation he winds up in.

[@iwent4thehead447]

Me at the beginning of Midsommar: Dani needs a therapist. Me at the end: … I need a therapist..

[@hadasm5033]

I literally had to talk about it in therapy

[@alanmassey1138]

I was baffled to see the takes where the ending is suppose to be a happy one. Thank you for validating my opinion that even within the context of the story telling it was wrong.

[@danielludwig647]

Right? Maybe it’s because I haven’t read any reviews either before or since watching it, but the idea that anyone would have that take confuses me. It was profoundly disturbing, watching someone being broken and indoctrinated while people burn to death. I’m...really lost on why *anyone* would consider it remotely positive.

[@alanmassey1138]

@@danielludwig647 yeah, I thought it was pretty clear the film is pushing hard to make the village the most unsettling thing possible. It's obviously a story of a protagonist learning a lie. And yet... here we are.

[@TheLily97232]

Alan Massey that's what a cult would push.... was it the idea of the creator to push this idea or........ he/she wanted to prove a point ?

[@alanmassey1138]

@@TheLily97232 not sure I follow the question, but since the unsettling feeling is at the heart of the film, I assume the creator wanted to drive how wrong cults are even beyond their allure.

[@blacklightredlight2945]

@@danielludwig647 After the oppression I experience in modern society, I saw Dani's ending as a good one. Better to be dumb and happy than wise and sad.

[@LimeyLassen]

God yeah. I've heard plenty of stories of what happens to women in these places. Warren Jeffs saw women as wombs on legs. The "love bomb" stage at the end of the film is just a hook, it doesn't last.

[@ololo518]

And it's even more scary because they target people (women in this case) who are much in need of someone telling them they are worthy and loved. So then after they swallow this hook they wouldn't be able to go away, 'cause they will think that there isn't love and support in outside world. I know it's obvious what I say, but it's so fucking scary to me...

[@sarahwarnock2707]

ew I hate to even read his name! The horrible things he did...

[@partycitydumpster]

Dani is certainly going to made to reproduce with Pelle. We leave her on a "high" in the cycle of abuse, but it will soon dip back down again. And she will possess even fewer tools to escape, since she will feel like a co-conspirator in the murders. She not only has no one outside the cult anymore, "agreeing" to Christian's murder will likely be framed as a permanent dedication to the cults values.

[@RX552VBK]

@@ololo518 Very scary! A friend of a friend had to rescue his two daughters from a cult based in Colorado a few years ago!

[@Ikilintu]

as someone from finland, where a lot of old nordic religions are often appropriated by neo nazis (odinism, neo-paganism, etc), the visuals of this movie did feel very noticebaly white supremacist, runes are OFTEN used by neo nazi groups for their symbols, much so that pagan craftsmen have to have clear signs explaining that runes are often misused and that their shop does not stand for it. i was kind of surprised that so many people even here managed to ignore it so easily.

[@RX552VBK]

Every person of color like myself that I know picked up on it immediately.

[@alisaihmemaassa5186]

I'm also from Finland however, I actually never knew of that. Kind of terrified now, but glad to know this!

[@horseenthusiast9903]

Yeah. I'm not Finnish, but I am pagan, and it surprised me how many people didn't pick up on that? It could just be because I'm often on alert trying to keep myself safe from those nazis who like to appropriate pagan symbols, but I also feel like it was pretty obvious in the film.

[@KateeAngel]

Yeah, though I wonder how would be possible for neo-nazis to appropriate Finnish stuff, because finno-ugrians originally are from the East, and traditional religion and mythology reminds of Uralic-Siberian tradition

[@Ikilintu]

@@KateeAngel i might have worded poorly, since i'm not a professional, i see this stuff in alternative circles so i felt like mentioning it. a lot of white supremacists form their own "sects" of neo paganism, praising similar homogeneity shown in this movie as in "everyone should go back to the good old days and keep everything as white as possible" or what often happens is that norse mythology is used as visuals and/or rethoric of violent hate groups for the aesthetics of strength.

[@richtorum5136]

I really wasn’t ready for the line “oh shit, it’s fascism”

[@chada4806]

I heard that and then everything *clicked*

[@theminisimmer]

The whole thing about cults and women commonly joining them, makes me think that this is why MLM's are popular among women.

[@nosiphodywili35]

I was thinking the same thing !

[@speakerdestroyer425]

There's a very strong correlation between MLMs and cults. There's an interesting video on it by Jimmy Snow a.k.a. Mr Atheist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpqzYaNtZrBpg5o

[@xGaLoSx]

I begged my ex, her sisters and mother not to join one but they did anyways. They lost thousands.

[@criticalthinkingconcubus]

Specifically military wives who usually don’t have many friends due to all the relocations, have little to not interference from their husbands, are bored, and have a lot of disposable income.

[@doctorjungla599]

What is MLM?

[@poego6045]

People saying "they broke some rules so they deserved their fates" is like, it shows how weirdly people treat horror movie characters. Most people even think "if you have sex in a horror film, you die", as if those horror movie protagonists deserved to be punished, and so harshly at that. Granted, I think for some people, they probably have their horror movie, meta glasses on and it's less "they deserved it" and more "they just made themselves murder candidates in a horror film", as that's definitely how I watch movies. You get characters where you go "they're aren't doing anything that bad, or they're only kind of rude, but it means they're on the chopping block now by nature of the genre and its tropes" and I imagine I'm not the only one, but that didn't color the ending as positive for me. I'm SUPER surprised people saw that ending as anything but extremely unsettling in how this girl was taken advanage of and brainwashed into accepting the murders of these people who were like, mostly just flawed humans like everyone else. (some more than others). She went from one abusive boyfriend (who was mostly emotionally abusive) to an even more abusive relationship (that's egregiously mentally and physically abusive).

[@jmn327]

To take that further, consider that if we treat this as a slasher film then Dani is basically the "Final Girl" trope; most often, the Final Girl is the one who dispatches or at least escapes the brutal killer, and even if the killer is a character that people grow to like and ironically cheer for (e.g. Freddy or Jason) it's still pretty clear in the text that the Final Girl is fortunate and right to have fought back and/or escaped the killer, and that the killer's murders are not justified. Here, Dani is the Final Girl...and she whole-heartedly *embraces* the killer, in this case the collective killer in the cult. That should be a flashing warning sign to anyone familiar with horror tropes that "Oh no, she's smiling, but something is DEFINITELY wrong here, this is *not* a happy ending."

[@elilass8410]

Not to mention Connie and Simon, who in the end were punished for.... showing shock and disapproval at murder and trying to leave? idk how people could think that was justified.

[@MeevieRae]

if only that shitty attitude ended at fictional horror movies. there are people who legitimately view murders at the hands of police as justifiable because to them, statements like "well, they shouldn't have stolen a package of diapers" or "well, they should have complied" are agreeable things to say, as if death is a perfectly natural consequence ugh

[@TheLily97232]

L G Tbh I think when people go see a horror movie, they actually crave for anything bad to happen to the characters so of course the one who dies will be seens as the weakest in a bad situation thus a dummy who deserved to die. That kind of way to portray horror is not good for our moral compass as a society or better it tells A LOT about our society.... but that's just my opinion.

[@BrockAband]

I like how you bring up this point about horror movie tropes. I was one of those who saw the ending as “happy”, but only because I saw the movie in a stylistic perspective rather a grounded one. I saw it as metaphorical and surreal. The murders weren’t justified for sure, but stepping out of reality allowed me to think differently about the film. However, after watching this video, the movie certainly does a good job subverting my expectations subliminally using standard horror movie tropes. I saw the cult as a metaphor for real life support from caring individuals, but this is also the same tactic cults use to recruit people. Perceptions of the character and the viewer are warped. The way the camera flipped upside down as they entered into the festival, the way psychedelics warped the perceptions of the characters and the viewer, the surreal dream sequences of Dani, and Dani seeing her mom walk away from her while surrounded by her new family, all led me to believe this was a film leaving reality and should not be taken literally. But in the context of the directors purpose of the movie, it does exactly that in order to trick me into justifying the direction the film went.

[@Kandosii]

While I didn't immediately pick up on the fascism angle as I either missed the book about nazi symbology or it wasn't in the version I watched, as a person with a medieval studies degree I'm *painfully* aware of the ways fascists use nordic-flavored mysticism and a politically motivated reading of european history to glorify their ideas of heritage. The Harga in Midsommar use a feeling of archaic ritual and symbolism to give a weightiness to their ideas, but it's a mixed bag of bunk and recent invention. Ättestupa elder sacrifice has no historical documentation, first coming into the record as part of a darkly comical story about a miserly family who kill themselves rather than give anything away in hospitality to their own elders. The importance of the bear sacrifice might've been lifted and twisted from Saami culture--a completely different religious tradition--or a completely upended read on berserkers: the term likely comes from a word meaning "bear-shirts", but they were said to be *immune* to fire. In the end, it hardly matters. The Harga don't actually care about how they're mangling history, any more than the real life fascist groups they echo: they have an ideology to uphold, and the social pressure and satisfaction of tradition is a tool they use to make it happen.

[@KayAndSkittles]

Very good points! The nazi book is only in the director's cut and imo it feels like a HUGE thing to cut out. It seems to me that whoever did the theatrical cut wasn't as interested in looking at the white supremacist nature of the cult.

[@bdm483]

Yeah I'm kind of annoyed they chose to cut that out? It changes the film's meaning so much. I mean, it's great to learn this long after watching, and feel incredibly uncomfortable after really enjoying the aesthetics of the film. Because hey I love flowers, and like the idea of community care, but only in the context of anti fascist community. Although yeah, the cult is obviously dangerous and it's not a safe place or a free place to be. But I'd have much preferred to experience both conflicting aspects simultaneously. It'd have been very discombobulating.

[@Kandosii]

@@KayAndSkittles That explains it! I still ended up picking up on the theme because I started thinking about the Harga's use of runes for ritual purposes, something which sadly has a lot of association with the nazi-infused mess that is Wotanism these days. I was particularly watching to see if any characters would be seen wearing runes used by the SS, or the Armanen runes they were drawn from, laid out in 1906. The movie seems to use the Elder Futhark runes instead. The runes themselves seem to have been deliberately chosen, but they're arranged according to modern schemes of runic divination. Furthermore, there are actually no surviving Elder Futhark runestones in the historic province of Hälsingland that the Harga live in, further adding to the actual modernity of the "ancient" artifacts they've produced. The Doyleist reading may simply be that Ari Aster and the crew used generally available information when designing the look of the Harga, but it equally fits with the slapdash approach that real life fascists take to approaching "reclaiming their history".

[@danielludwig647]

@Kandosii Good point on the “slapdash” nature of fascist appropriation. It may be just a background detail, but in this very video, I think I can see an odal rune in the background of the scene where Pelle is comforting Dani. Just apropos of nothing, painted on the wall between the other illustrations and right there over Pelle’s shoulder at about 9:20. I’m not sure if there was any great intention behind it, but anyone versed in American fascism knows that the odal rune is used as a “clever” substitute for the swastika, with the American Nazi party swapping out their swastika for the rune some years ago. I’m sure there are similar connotations elsewhere, given the rune’s usage in certain German military insignia during WWII.

[@twincitiestara]

@@danielludwig647 Well spotted! Wasn't the large banquet table essentially laid out as a huge odal rune as well?

[@donnylurch4207]

Even if Christian's friends didn't offend the cultists, they were going to be sacrificed anyway.

[@debstherottie472]

yep, the pagan cults traditions included controlling who can breed & with whom. I had the feeling only the other couple, not Christian's friends , had a shot at actually joining but were killed due to their reaction at the cliff jumping.

[@noveltyaccount11]

@@debstherottie472 not even them. there were 6 outsiders altogether, and they hadn't planned on dani being there. 5 outsiders were intended, and the final ceremony involves 9 sacrifices, 4 from the cult, 4 outsiders, and 1 from either group chosen by the may queen, whom we can presume is from the cult. they bring in 5 outsiders to sacrifice

[@davidking4838]

@@noveltyaccount11 Yup. So they murdered the British girl just because that's who they are - killers. She was not part of the sacrifice.

[@leonamay8776]

@@noveltyaccount11 if Dani hadn't been there, Connie could have potentially taken her place, no? Then again, Connie may not have been white enough.

[@eylonavraham8921]

@@debstherottie472 Remember when Ineberg or whatever is his name mentioned something about dating Connie and how she ended up with simon who just became his friend or something like that? Well, he just brought them as a double kill

[@gremlinvibe]

"The only way we stop shit like this is by building communities based on meeting each other's needs and that includes social needs. You can't educate or berate people into not joining cults. You can only change the material conditions that push people into them and if we can't be there for each other when we're alone, angry, and in need of guidance then the cult will be but if you always felt held then what could a cult offer you?" Honestly, imagine if we used this for other things? I feel like a lot of problems would be solved like this. Addiction immediately comes to mind for example.

[@star2705]

I really appreciated your highlighting of the ableist.... situation with the oracle.

[@elegantcat1496]

Ain't nobody gonna talk about how she sees the faces of her family members among the crowd, symbolizing her introduction in a culture of death?

[@iemandanders5792]

I thought that the moment she saw her family in the crowd was the moment she truly gave in to the cult bcs it was the last time she saw her parent and it felt more like a goodbye. From that moment on she was truly integrated in the cult. But thats just how i interpretated it

[@berniebro5162]

Oh wow I didn't even notice that it was her mother!

[@JustPeachyMind]

It also symbolizes that she is joining her new "family" even though her real family is dead.

[@Niriixa]

Love this analysis. When I rewatched the movie, I realized that Pelle is likely deliberately grooming Dani right from the start. He's the only one of Christian's friends who seems to have empathy for her traumatic loss and pushes his own loss of his parents on her to almost force an emotional connection. He knows she's emotionally vulnerable and that her and Christian are on bad terms by the time the group arrives. There's multiple instances where he seeks her out to explain the cult to her, to draw her into the "culture" of it. And of course there's the whole "does he feel like home to you" and him kissing her when she's crowned may queen. His relaxed/welcoming attitude towards Dani makes us as viewers not see him as threatening, but he's literally the one who brought this group of friends to his cult as sacrifices. And he probably chose Dani as a fitting new cult member. She has no friends or family who would miss her. He#s successfully brought her into the cult and, with the help of the other cult members, successfully indoctrinated her.

[@JustPeachyMind]

Pele's character really fucked me up because I grew up Southern Baptist, and was trained to essentially lure other kids in my neighborhood to come to church so we could try to convert them. Thankfully Ive been ouf of the church for a decade, but man...makes me realize how messed up the whole thing was.

[@astamasnow]

Of course Pele started to groom Dani, the others where too skeptic to be part of the cult, but Dani needed someone else to be with her, they were nothing but sacrifices to be made in order for her to join

[@mente3810]

His parents got burned… just like the cast 😳

[@yeeyeeasshaircut3929]

now I REALLY want a sequel about dani finding out how the realities of the Harga through brutal Swedish winters

[@albaniaalban]

Midvinterblot?

[@biffyqueen]

My thing is like "The police are going to notice this right?" I mean, I don't do a lot of travel, but when I went to SCotland I was quizzed on where I was staying and how long I'd be there. I don't imagine Sweden is lax about tourists just up and vanishing.

[@CharlieTooHuman]

biffyqueen I have a theory that the government/authorities might have some ancient pact with the cult (some cult members might even be working within the government) and they keep relatively hush about tourists disappearing, wiping records etc. Would love a sequel where some investigative journalists or detectives go to Sweden to find out why so many tourists have not returned, digging deeper into the history of the Harga cult, getting wrapped up in a terrifying conspiracy that goes back centuries. Wicker Man style!

[@thethethemososoki4555]

@@CharlieTooHuman the conspiracy part is a bit of a stretch but make the investigative journalist Swedish then you're game. European nations are very against fascism and any of its derivative due to WW2.

[@marlboroprime657]

please?? thats such a good concept

[@Sofka450]

I feel like people confuse cathartic ending and happy one. Catharsis is the whole point of their celebration - that's why they scream at the fire in grief and happines at once. Midsommar's plot is almost arhaetypical - a hero goes through the woods for a long journey to discover themselves, the real friendship and a chosen family. And in such terms, this ending can be classified as "good". But in reality, it's a cathartic finale. However if you look closely, not even every mainstream movie has a good, not feel-good ending. Most of the times writers substinciate those things because they are going for an easy and classic plot, but in Midsommar our expectations are subverted to make us feel how indoctrination feels from a side of the victim. Because nobody sees themselves as victims in this process - so Dany doesn't too.

[@Esplodeyoface]

I love midsommar for this exact reason like.... it's framed as something so good and positive and so much like freedom and THAT is where the real horror lies

[@catwoman9062]

How anyone could see this community as wholesome and positive is beyond me. I would have run for my life the very first night, or even earlier. These people were so creepy - way too nice, not normal at all. I guess the students were under some influence most of the time, so they did not question issues they may have questioned otherwise. And then people started disappearing. That was definitely the time to plan a concerted breakout, come what may (in one of the cut scenes Dani actually tries to persuade Christian to leave....I wonder if they perhaps filmed a different ending too?). This was a train wreck of a movie. All the good people die or go crazy! But it is a movie, so...

[@jahliafinney707]

The first review that I've seen in that discusses that the Harga is racist. This was especially confusing to me because I don't think Ari Aster hides this at all, and he has spoken about it too(with the stuff about Josh's treatment and the fact that he's outright said this). But I guess everyone collectively decided to ignore it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@tonimartinez320]

I just watched a 20 minute analysis that completely ignored all those racism flags and just ended it with "what a great allegory for gaslighting and abuse" like.........................IT'S A KIND OF GASLIGHTING FOR SURE i feel like this movie did its job so well that people didn't see it was "making fun" of them. [well, trying to coerce a moment of self-interrogation more accurately]. What this movie didn't anticipate was how deep the brainwashing runs here as a result of American exceptionalism. The narrative is so thick that even though it was obvious - there's hints of it in the trailer, on the cover.... everywhere] people couldn't look at it that way because it would mean immediately realizing what so many are complicit in and realizing that they are complicit in Genocide is the last thing so many Nice Friendly Whites[tm] would ever bring themselves to do After all - they're nice! Everyone's nice. It's so nice here. :)

[@toxicshockwave3768]

Wait wait. Where are the red flags? I must’ve missed them. I really enjoyed this movie

[@jackieweaver3884]

it was very obvious to me from the beginning, how they treat PoC. but its so surprising how most people really missed it?

[@lprocks555]

thank you so much for posting this! i swear, sirens sound off in my head whenever i hear someone reduce this film to "a break-up movie" and say that "dani joining a neo n*zi cult is good for her, actually", but i guess it's a testament to ari aster's skill as a filmmaker that that conclusion is so prevalent in discussions about midsommar. the ableism, though. that's just awful

[@poego6045]

Ari has such a shitty problem with that. I was LOVING the first half of Hereditary, and thought they were trying to subvert the trope of "creepy, mentally disabled kid/person" and making it a real, down to earth family centered horror film......... And then the 2nd half of the movie happened, a bunch of shitty tropes emerged, and the movie went fucking HARD on the "creepy, mentally disabled kid/person" trope as its driving force. I mean, fucking seriously? "She's mentally handicapped cuz she's literally housing the devil." This sounds like something written in the medieval ages.

[@John12494]

Honestly the two people I know who loved midsommar described it just as a 'break up film' were also two white women. They also thought that the film had a happy ending and that Christian deserved what he got.

[@terminaldeity]

It is a break up film, though. It's what drives the narrative from the first scene to the last. Ari Aster literally wrote the movie following a painful breakup.

[@DCJayhawk57]

@@terminaldeity Yes, this can't be understated. He was inspired to make this from what sounds like Rom Com tropes. This is why it's so subversive, because you feel things are off but the plot is something you've seen so many times that you keep watching expecting a certain ending. You "get" that ending on the surface, but this movie isn't really about the breakup at all. The fact he was able to integrate such polar opposite genres so seamlessly shows his skill in this psychological horror genre. It's pretty amazing to me that he's made 2 horror movies that have generated this much discussion, super impressive.

[@SlowDownAl]

I'd reduce it to a slapstick movie. It made me laugh and groan- just as a Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy movie would. Nothing in film changes.

[@noelkanalley2020]

Another thing I picked up on in this movie, in relation to how cults operate, is how utterly alone Dani is within American society. She clearly isn't a very social person, is struggling with mental health issues even before her sister's horrific act, and is left clinging like a drowning person to someone she no longer loves, and who no longer loves her (at least, that's what I got from a pivotal scene in the Director's cut). She literally has no one to turn to and no one looking out for her. Late capitalist American society has nothing to offer people in her situation. It's all "buck up kid, deal with it. You're on your own." Which is no answer at all. But hyper individualism our social-Darwinist view of the world cannot, by definition, offer her anything. That's why communal cults, like Peoples Temple of Jonestown fame, were and are filled with people who were otherwise lost and adrift, but have now been given (meaningless, artificial) purpose by the cult in question.

[@ayomade7496]

There is always a price to pay with individualism. Yes you can make your own decisions but how do you know those decisions are yours or someone manipulating you. When Individualism seeps into Nationalism you get fascism.

[@davidking4838]

Great reply. We have indeed created a very lonely "you're on your own" society. And then we romanticized it.

[@JustPeachyMind]

As a person who moved to a new city at Dani's age and was living alone, it is suuuuper easy to literally have no support network and it is truly isolating.

[@jimkirk3839]

When I lost my mother I went down a rabbit hole of pretty shitty online communities, 4chan and liveleak kinda of stuff. The more extreme your pain the more willing you are to seek out and accept extreme highs and lows from all sources. In the throes of grief life already seems unreal so you are more likely to accept extreme and illogical behavior and interactions. I think that's a thing some people miss about cults. They wont go after you if you are happy and grounded, they go after people who are already living a nightmare and they just pivot them to live in a different one. Trauma fucks up your mind in a very specific way which unfortunately makes it more prone to being re traumatized in exactly the same way.

[@liamross2636]

I feel something that not a lot of people are really addressing is that Dani was destroyed at the start of the film when her family died, and by the end of the film, she is condemning a drugged-up, helpless, rape victim to burn a horrible death. You don’t realise how powerful and influential a cult is, until it’s too late.

[@tayo_95]

Firstly, this is a great video. Secondly, I am 100% as vulnerable to manipulation as anyone else, but, thirdly, I honest to God never found the cult appealing for one second.

[@jaxon19kira]

You are 100% vulnerable to manipulation if you think this is a great video. This dude has fucked up core beliefs. His answer for ridding the world of cults and fascism is having the entire world act as a cult does. He is obviously trying to highlight his own socialist values and used copious amounts of illogical correlation to back up his own view. Socialism nearly always comes before fascism. If we followed the answers this dude had for the world wed be living in a worldwide nazi Germany.

[@alltoohuman01]

finally, someone who understood this film! so sick of takes like "she's smiling, so its a happy ending!"

[@CherryDiMilo]

and she is obviously not smiling with her eyes....

[@EvilDick1995]

There are reviews all the way from when this movie was first released talking about how it isn’t a happy ending. This isn’t a hot take whatsoever

[@irrisorie7]

"midsommar wasn't much of a horror movie" is such an unbelievable take to me. it's the most horrifying movie i've ever seen in my life. i've never been as unsettled, uncomfortable, and dreading every single second as it dragged on in a perpetual state of building tension, as i have while watching this movie. when i was done watching it, i wanted to puke. her smile at the end made my stomach twist in disgust. i've *never* reacted like that to any movie. maybe it's just a me thing, maybe the movie managed to get uniquely under my skin in a way that most people didn't experience, but i can't ever watch it again. it was a harrowing experience. it's probably the only horror movie i've ever watched that *literally* horrified me. (i have not seen hereditary and now i think i probably never will) your analysis basically saying that the people of the death cult were fascists?? yeah. now i'm ready to barf.

[@mystamanv]

For some reason the general populous thinks horror movies have to be slashers or gory monster/ghost flicks. I've never understood this perspective. Midsommar is definitely a horror film. I had the same unease the entire movie as you did, and was completely mind***ked by the end. So much so that I never made any connection to fascism and the inherent racism of the whole thing (even as a minority myself) over multiple viewings. I'm for some reason compelled to periodically rewatch it, I can't explain it.

[@tilerdurpen4135]

Watch Climax by Gaspar Noe

[@snatcherofpeachs]

As someone who thought themselves completely desensitised and jaded Midsommar really got to me. Horrifying. There’s no other word for it. I can only imagine that this is how audiences felt watching some of the great horror classics for the first time. I watched Hereditary shortly afterward and in my opinion Midsommar was far more disturbing. Climax is good too. I’m a Gaspar Noe fan as well.

[@AMak92]

@@tilerdurpen4135 facts

[@TheLily97232]

W. W. I know right ? to me this kind of movie is even more dcarring and horrific than ghory ones. because it's too real and actually psychologically fucking with your mind. That shows how we so blatantly underestimate the power of psychological damage/violence

[@Ad-qt8lx]

I loved that the movie is a “horror thriller” movie which tend to be dark but Midsommer is so full of color, pretty skys & happy people

[@sidnew2739]

And still it is as dark as can be.

[@tauryn6979]

As a Swedish person, this movie scared the shit out of me. I haven’t even watched it yet but damn I’ve celebrated so many midsummers and this is bugging me

[@HelloKitty60621]

please tell me what midsummer is like, what do you do? i assume there's no murders but im dying to know

[@Sockwithathat]

@@HelloKitty60621 Swedish person here lmao it’s I think what I could describe as very comforting it’s just a get together to celebrate the “lightest day of the year” you just appreciate Swedish culture while eating some home baked sweets and be with your family and the people around you! :)

[@FuzzyKittenBoots]

@@Sockwithathat What? What kind of midsummer are you celebrating? No weird dancing around they maypole? No picking flowers and making flower crowns? No excessive drinking? Are you sure you're Swedish?

[@Sockwithathat]

@@FuzzyKittenBoots lmao forgot that part

[@skellymom]

@@FuzzyKittenBoots You are thinking of a spring celebration with the maypole. Midsummer is in the middle of the summer and would possibly correspond with the Summer Solstice.

[@Cangeltibon]

Cult tends to have more women because cults tend to target more women. The hierarchy of cults (mainstream and cult cults) use women for currency and status, women are welcomed in while men are pushed out because women are usually reserved for the use of high ranking men with in the cult while (depending on the cult) men are used for labor or just shunted to the side, it makes it easier for men to break the cults hold on them. Everything else though is pretty accurate on how cult recruit and trap women in a Stockholm situation, but it’s not because women are more susceptible if anything modern women and girls are more aware and sensitive to those red flags than men and boys it’s simply a numbers game where they try harder with women.

[@srspeep]

I made a comment about this too - it's also because mainstream society often doesn't offer an equal power structure for women, while cults frequently do. And that's very appealing to a lot of people. But they intentionally offer what people feel they're missing in their daily lives, whether it's a sense of community or empowerment or answers to the big questions in life. That's the draw of cults.

[@Elladajosie]

Completely agree. As a parallel to that, the church in my country specifically demands more of women than it does of men. Women are expected to attend church and shamed when they don't, whereas parents take it easy on their sons (at least that's what it's like for the older generation).

[@Moomai95]

A

[@candicefrost4561]

Men are more attracted to status, women to connection (generalizations, sure, but socialization make these trends useful to recruiters). Pedophiles and woman beaters tend to thrive in these environments.

[@normtrooper4392]

Skittles is the shining light in the darkness. Also, you need a "woops, it's fascism" shirt

[@belobii]

I feel as though being black makes you very aware of facist/ racist ideologies no matter how subtle they are, as it is life for us. I immediately felt uncomfortable for Josh and Simon who were the only black bodies in a space where there were only white people. Of course the broken girl (dani) falls into the trap the charismatic cult coax her into, cults thrive off of people like dani - alone and upset. The ending is deeply disturbing but realistic in showing us how easy it is for people to feel the need to join a cult (masked as a community/family) just to feel some warmth.

[@Nujaqdademon]

That’s the thing fascism is built on the premise of us vs them mentality it’s a cult of personality and fellowship based on collective fear rather that pride. Lets take The U.S as an example as we get closer to our election many eye brow raising policies have been put in place that any rational person would see and realize what’s really going on here. But A large portion of the presidents supporters go out of their way to the point of hypocrisy and beyond logic to justify clear obstructions to civil liberties. The deflection of accountability and selfishness (while during a pandemic) is seen as strength. Any admittance of defeat or wrong doings is weakness or UnAmerican. When you are of color you see right through the double speak and blatant hostility. When grievances of the black population are being known we are told to shut up and be happy with being treated differently cause at least we aren’t in chains. Then dismiss and tell us we are UnAmerican cause a small percentage looted and rioted and proven agitation from the government to escalate the violence then boom. One tiny moment can put us back in chains

[@babyelijahwood7542]

i'm not black, but i am latino, and i IMMEDIATELY picked up on some rancid vibes from the cult.

[@cait812]

@@babyelijahwood7542 I mean everyone did?

[@babyelijahwood7542]

@@cait812 did you watch the video? the point was that a lot of people didn't pick up on the racism of the cult.

[@sommerblume9671]

@@babyelijahwood7542 tfw i'm black and didn't. maybe it's cause i focused too much on the horror aspects, that and i'm from the uk. i've mostly given up on racially charged topics bc nobody around me either sees it, experiences it, or cares.

[@АннаХаликова-х9е]

I've read some stuff about cults and their grooming technics and while watching the film I noticed common patterns like selecting a lonely and emotionally shattered target, love bombing, constantly reminding them about their trauma, promise them some stability and support, convincing them that everyone from the outside world is malevolent (in Dani's case, convincing her that Christian cheated on her while in fact he was drugged when he had sex with Maja) and finally making them an accomplice in crime. I was kinda shocked when I read that some people perceive the final scene (when people are burnt f*cking alive!) as a happy end. For me, it's terrifying that people can't spot these red flags.

[@UnusVita]

I lost a lot of loved ones in a very short period of time. I self isolated, got into a damaging relationship, and ended up having a complete breakdown. The first time I watched this movie I cried for several hours because of the "held" scene. Your breakdown is absolutely spot on in every way.

[@gorimbaud]

Here's a fun thought: viewers of American media are so used to black characters being tokenized that when Josh is deliberately left out many didn't see a reason to think harder about that.

[@pooja350]

The fact that u hadn't a single reply proves your point

[@Allisonlikescats]

I definitely thought about it. I don't know why everyone thinks the racism was subtle, I could see it from a mile away.

[@elricofmelnibone425]

Pooja B Now there’s 3 replies. Whoops.

[@LilithsVeil]

Well not "fun" but very, very true.

[@gorimbaud]

@@LilithsVeil oh yeah the fun part is 100% facetious, it's actually super depressing

[@troyareyes]

I am happy you alluded to the issue of consent regarding Christians infidelity. I always feel Christian got a bad rap. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to not be feeling a relationship anymore, want out, then something so horrible happens to the partner that thers no way to leave without coming off as a total monster. Then the guy gets drugged and sexually assaulted then burned in a bear suit!

[@elilass8410]

It's always been a horror to me that people took his rape as his "final offence" against Dani.

[@Niriixa]

Seriously, the whole ritual sex scene and the lead up was so disturbing. I really agree that Christian doesn't deserve the level of dismissal that people seem to give him for being a "cheater". He was coerced into having sex while he was drugged. You can't tell me that the guy was able to fully consent while he was tripping on drug 1, pushed into going along by a large group of people (the cult elder, the people with him at the table, the ones leading him to the girl) and then made to take ANOTHER drug on top.

[@biffyqueen]

He was a shitty boyfriend though, in the beginning he tells Dani she "let's her [sister] get away with it" ie her behavior, he keeps things from her, refuses to acknowledge her concerns, lies to her and basically treats her like excess baggage. He doesn't value her in any way, but doesn't have the strength of character to leave the relationship. He was dithering about breaking up with her before the tragedy and then of course, he can't quite extricate himself from it it's true, but this goes on for months later, and he was totally planning to ditch her in the States while he went to Sweden. He's a shitty friend too, he makes his friends back up his lies, steals Josh's idea for a thesis and then refuses to collaborate with him later and even sells them out when the book is "stolen". And while he didn't exactly jump into bed with whatshername, we also didn't see the full conversation with the elder who informed him that she was interested and that they had approved the match, which was before he was drugged. Did he agree to be a breeder? More likely he made some non committal sounds which was good enough for them. Had he cared about Dany in any way, he would have shown much stronger resistance, he would have listened to her concerns about the missing couple, hell, he wouldn't have been there deciding that his partner needed him there at home for support. Instead he comes off as meekly being led around to his fate. Did he deserve that fate? No. And a lot of the above is on purpose so we don't feel bad for him when he gets burned to death and see the cult as being the support Dani needs that he was unwilling to give.

[@amandajunecesarano7423]

@@biffyqueen Yes, it's shitty of him to not break up with her but it'a also shitty of Dani not to acknowledge his very obvious discomfort at being in a relationship with her. He continually tries to distance himself but she will not leave him alone. She only cares about her own feelings and does not provide him with an opportunity to be honest with her because she does not care about what he needs. A boyfriend is not a therapist and should not be expected to be one. I fully see the breeding scene as sexual assault. He is being indoctrinated into the cult and cults have a way of manipulating a person into magical thinking.You may not be able to understand it if you haven't been through it but when you put a person through traumatizing, bizarre scenarios, they can begin to believe in the supernatural; like "Oh she did a love spell on me, I guess I have to have sex with her". He is clearly disturbed, hesitant, and confused by all of the "love spells" used on him. All this, plus the drugs, and the fact that he runs terrified out of the room show that he was not in a mental state to consent to this sexual encounter.

[@graup1309]

Yes! He was a kind of shitty person, but tbh so was Dani and the relationship just was broken and really they should've just broken up and gone on with their lives. But did he deserve to get drugged, raped and burnt alive in a bear costume? No, nobody deserves that.

[@jmn327]

This feels like a very needed video, given the overall discussion surrounding the film. Key is the fact that Midsommar is a *horror* movie; if the film was just "sad girl gets happy, but people die to make it happen", that's not intrinsically horrific in and of itself on a thematic level. Rather, the film is "sad girl is being passed from one harmful environment to another, but is manipulated into thinking her new life is better, to the point that giving up her individuality and people around her dying feels justified to her...and potentially to the audience." Most of the victims' greatest sins in the film are being human and thus weak at times (e.g. tough for her boyfriend to break up after hearing her entire family just died), yet you're nudged to view their murders as justified, when they pretty clearly aren't. That's chilling. The entire horror is how seductive the cult is to a vulnerable person, and thus how seductive it is to us watching the story unfold through her eyes. On a surface level there's this oddly empowering feeling behind it: a woman casting off an uncaring boyfriend, embracing community and her emotions, going back to nature, all the things self-help types would say are wonderful ideas, yet that is subverted by the fact she's only come to this point by sacrificing the lives of others as well as any remaining shred of her own agency (there's a reason she's dressed as a plant instead of a person at the end). The cult is not empowering for her or other women, it indoctrinates and strips away anything that makes you...you. Making the connection with fascism is a massive point, here, and I'm glad the video made it: fascism is a philosophy built on contradiction and a lack of consistent logic, in which you're told that you are by birthright an ubermensch yet at the same time it is continually reinforced that without your race and native soil you are nothing at all. Like the cult it is a wolf in sheep's clothing, the trappings of empowerment and community while instead acting as a vehicle to strip away your individuality and agency.

[@jumpbox3]

This, 100% this! I like the way you think pal.

[@GothVampiress]

'ari aster being very normal about disability as usual' now THIS is a topic i'd love to see more on

[@thecrakp0t]

I cannot for the life of me understand how anyone can view the ending as anything other than horrific. I'm a former cult member and I can tell you that Dani is just trading one toxic relationship for another. Not only that, are we all just ignoring that she seems like she's dissociating while watching her boyfriend burn alive, or that she literally has no way back to the outside world? If The VVitch and Hereditary are anything to go off of, the director doesn't seem particularly fond of religion, or at least doesn't shy away from the destructive elements that can come along with it. Religion and the way it plays a role in people's lives, particularly how it can lead people to do terrible things, is a key feature of Ari Aster films by this point. Dani may be happy, but what's in store for her is more human sacrifice, more magical thinking, more demand to fully adopt the beliefs and once you become an established cult member, it's nearly impossible to untangle yourself from it's clutches.

[@grantforgues720]

The VVitch was Robert Eggers, not Ari Aster, though I understand the confusion

[@tvxedobvnny]

I think watching the film during quarantine after a shit breakup really colored the way I initially saw this movie, but this video is really making me revisit that reading lmao. Thanks so much 🌼

[@AntonMK14]

Great video! I had a pretty similar reaction to the film, though the white supremacy aspect went over my head. I just saw the fact that the cult recognized Dany's dependency and capitalized on it. Meanwhile, the film used 80's slasher mentality (where the audience is perfectly ok with the insufferable "protagonists" dying) to make the audience glaze over the fact that no one deserved to die.

[@SlowDownAl]

That was the comedy, it was over the top. The same as slapstick in silent movies: the violence is totally out of proportion to the actions that trigger it. It's funny. We laugh. Or maybe not. I think we still do in the UK but I could be wrong.

[@shurik121]

I have no idea how can anyone think it's a happy ending. In the end, Dany is drugged out of her mind and has probably gone crazy (at least that's what the final lines of the script imply). Once the drugs wear off and she realises what happened, she'll probably go crazy completely or commit suicide. It's a horrific ending, one of the most miserable things I've seen happening to a protagonist in horror movies. The smiles, bright clothes, sunny weather - all is used to play with our perception of what really happens to Dany. It's like the movie constantly drugs not only her, but also the audience.

[@PotatoChicken-gg1ju]

I watched Midsommar only recently, and I was actually surprised at how many people saw the ending as "happy". I felt that the cult was creepy, sometimes in ways I couldn't quite pin down. Even when Dani was faced with the choice to kill her boyfriend, my gut instinct told me that she should keep him alive, even if only as a familiar, somewhat friendly face, and escape. Then when I watched analyses like these, it hit me that I was reminded of my own trauma at the hands of a manipulative abuser. I was sad and scared for Dani at the end because I recognized (perhaps even subconsciously) that she had tragically fallen into the abusers' trap.

[@CMoonToon]

something IMMEDIATELY felt off when they were all in the car and pele was asking josh if he was "sensitive" to certain topics that ANY poc but ESPECIALLY black poc would obviously be sensitive towards ENDING IT ASKING IF HE WAS SENSITIVE TO /SLAVERY/ OF ALL THINGS it was a scene almost played for laughs bc obviously slavery is bad but pele was asking like "oh you really dont like that?" unsettling and very telling imo!

[@panicon9624]

I didn't know that this persective wasn't as mainstream

[@Bee-ks8tl]

thanks for being literally THE ONLY review I've seen that discusses the cults white supremacy, I was really shocked that the take didn't mention it at least once, they're usually so thorough.

[@JaeshaunDT]

i assume it is not as apparent for some people because it is not necessarily explicit or 'prominent' in that regard. or, it somehow never crossed their minds. but to me.. it practically more or less goes without saying.

[@missbbaddie]

agree!

[@QuestingRefuge]

This was a weird watch after korvidays video about Shane Dawson and grooming. It is frightening how much alienation in this society can prime us to be taken advantage of

[@twiceshy9773]

Danni's smile at the end reminded me more of the poor mother in "Rosemary's Baby"😳

[@meganrogers3244]

This is such a well-articulated and thoughtful video. I really appreciate the analysis and debunking the strange 'it's a happy ending' vibe that was going around these midsommar think pieces. It was a cathartic ending to be sure, but that is different than happiness. And I totally wish that nazi-pagan book that Josh was reading was in the final cut of the film because it adds a lot of contexts and links several scenes together. There is one plot point that I think was slightly overlooked and it's something that won't stop nagging my brain. This movie is very subtle so I might be totally off on this but anyway when you said it's no coincide that Danni who has blonde hair and blue eyes is getting recruited by this all-white cult that's mostly true but I'm pretty sure Connie was also a potential recruit. Only two people brought outsiders to the festival, Pelle and his brother Ingmar. Pelle brought Christain, Josh, Mark and Danni and Ingmar brought Simon and Connie. When asked how Ingmar met Simon and Connie he states that he and Connie were on a date but in the end she and Simon got engaged, to which she says she didn't even know it was a date and he laughs it off but it's pretty clear he's upset about how things went down. I think Ingmar was trying to get Connie to join the cult just like Danni and be a newblood but she ended up being with Simon. I'd say at the start of the festival the cult was like 50/50 on whether or not Connie would be brought into their society or killed. It all depended on her reaction. She reacted poorly and was too tied to Simon to feel that sense of loneliness like Danni did so in the end when she and Simon freaked out at the suicide ceremony and tried to leave that was her essentially sealing her own fate and she was drowned. I also think this is why Ingmar later volunteered to be a human sacrifice, his potential mate didn't work out and after exacting his revenge on the couple by brutally killing them all he had left was to kill himself. It's the same reason that when Danni also freaks out after the suicide and thinks about leaving you can see Pelle freak out a little and tries to calm her down and give her a pep talk the classic 'do you feel held by him?' speech, I think Pelle knew that if Danni tried to leave the cult would have no choice but to kill her and he was so desperate to get her to stay and be his partner that he told her these deep thoughts earlier than he planned hoping to convince her to stay and save her life. So where Connie fails, Danni succeeds and this contrast serves to illustrate just how close Danni was to death in that earlier scene. But I think it's important to know that Ignmar did romantically pursue Connie and probably originally had plans to bring her into the cult and if she had been more receptive she probably would have been just as manipulated and love-bombed as Danni to get her fresh genetics into the gene pool. Connie is played by a clearly 'not white' actress so while I do think the cult is definitely fascist and racist, I would say they were desperate enough for new genes to allow a non-white woman into the cult. As one of the elder says in the movie they acknowledge the taboo of incest and try to not be too intermixed (the incest oracle being an exception rather than a rule). So I think it comes down to the 'beggars can't be choosers' level of racism. Not like '100% extreme white supremacist never ever intermix' but rather more 'classical Viking supremacists' that 'steal the best babes from other countries and bring them back home' as Josh said earlier in the film. Also as a side note on Ingmar's sacrifice, I do think it is one of the most important scenes of the film. When he is given the sap from a yew tree by the elder and told him and Ulf (aka mister steal-yo-skin) would feel no pain during the ceremony and yet later Ingmar watched in horror as Ulf screams in pain when he starts to catch on fire. And I think Ingmar realized too late that this was all a lie, the promise of the elder was a lie, therefore the ceremony itself and the entire belief of the cult is called into question. What else are they lying about? Is any of this actually necessary? But of course, it's too late for Ingmar to grapple with this before he dies in the flames himself. It is the only moment in the film where the beliefs of the cult are directly undermined by the film itself (it's questioned by the characters but the film is never on their side so we the audience are more on the cult side than the mean outsiders who ignore poor Danni's side). And it's that sense of 'it's too late' that makes it so powerful. Also, it again provides a contrast, right at the moment that a cult member begins to question the validity of the cult itself is the same moment that Danni feels the greatest amount of trust with the cult, ending the movie on a sad sick smile unable to hear Ingmar's screams over the cathartic screams of her own family. Quite literally his voice and pain and contradiction are drowned out by the collective itself. Anyway, I hope you don't take this as me trying to contradict the points you made in this video because they are fantastic and well researched, rather this is just me getting a little too detail orientated and nitpicky on a very subtle and detailed film.

[@ScrewedTimeLord]

Thanks Kay! I’ve been waiting for something like this ever since I started thinking about the treatment of characters of color in Midsommar, and then when I saw that banner in a tweet I had the whole movie reframed for me. It’s a shame that this take isn’t more widespread, as I do feel it’s more impactful than “it’s about a breakup LUL.” Thanks for putting this out there. Great stuff!

[@lexiwexiwoo]

I love that Midsommar actually shows that people who get drawn into Cults aren't targeted or even find themselves joining a cult because they're stupid or because they're weak. Anyone is susceptible to being targeted & seeking cults, especially when they're at a low.point in their life because the cult sees that need for fulfillment and will promise it to you if you follow them. There are people who seek answers to big questions, unsatisfied by conventional sources, that end up in cults for the same reason. They see that yearning for answers and will promise them. I hate to see the comments documentaries of past cult members experiences & general cult documentaries where so many say "you must really be a moron to think this guy is some sort of God/profit/etc" or "an idiot is born every second and they all end up in cults" when we know, psychologically, that isn't the case..

[@erendiranigarcia8326]

Anyone familiar with Latin American history will quickly recognize the cult in Midsommar as a clear homage to Colonia Dignidad, a cult founded by former Nazis in Chile. And yes, it WAS more horrifying than this horror movie.

[@drawingsticks5333]

How much alcohol do I need if I Google it

[@erendiranigarcia8326]

@@drawingsticks5333 Considering it involved torture, rape, murder, pedophilia, stuff that's technically torture but somehow worse, and of course, eugenics, I'm gonna say as much as you can drink without getting alcohol poisoning.

[@rickyb6086]

I'll take "Cults in Latin America" for 500, please.. **Google's it**

[@mikicerise6250]

Yeah, I assumed this was in reference to Colonia Dignidad myself when I saw the trailers.

[@barbara3426]

YES, I from Chile and I totally remember Colonia dignidad with this movie

[@IcestormTundra]

Something I noticed on even my first viewing of Midsomer, was that the dining table was shaped as the Othala rune which is associated with homeland and family. It was, and still is, used by nazis to refer to an ethnostate.

[@costeris35]

The movie makes the audience an accessory to the horror. When it ended and I realised I felt happy for Dani I knew how well it had manipulated me. Fantastic movie.

[@henrikandreason7261]

I understood why she smiled at the end, but I knew at the same time that she just sold her self into mind controlled slavery for a bit of happiness.

[@skeletspook]

Thank you for this! I found it very strange and somewhat disturbing how many people saw the ending as happy or even empowering. For me one of the most unsettling scenes was the one where Dani starts crying and all the other women start wailing with her. You are literally watching her identity being dissolved by into the cult. She wanted people to empathise with her but what the group is giving her is some gross distortion of empathy. Not even her pain and grief are her own anymore.

[@John12494]

Your comment made me realize something. Could it be that Pelle's story about his family dying in a fire was basically a more evolved form of that? Him saying that his parents died in a fire could just as easily be him lying in a similar way to the girls crying with Dani.

[@streq9199]

People arguing this is a happy ending reminds me of people who argued Whiplash had a happy ending. The movies are vastly different but the core points of contention in both movies are roughly similar: both protagonists find "fulfillment" in an abusive, exploitative and manipulative environment, right after finding themselves alone, with little else to live for.

[@Trynottoblink]

I was just saying this to my friend a minute ago! Andrew gives up all semblance of a normal life to submit himself to an abusive work ethic; his success at impressing Fletcher at the end of the film doesn’t make the ending happy. The fact that he still cares about his opinion and shows up to play Caravan means he’s leaned into that toxic mentorship instead of recognizing it as unhealthy and cutting it off. This is a bad ending for the protagonist, even if he feels otherwise in the moment. The director even said in an interview that Andrew probably kills himself after the performance (which anyone paying attention to the film should’ve figured out anyway).

[@emiliecoteb7]

​@@Trynottoblink At least the people thinking that for Whiplash have the excuse of being blinded by the christian work ethic : the harder you work the better you are as a person and suffering means you are going to be rewarded.

[@SlowDownAl]

Whiplash was shit. And that neck. Oh my God.

[@streq9199]

​@@SlowDownAl your opinion on the quality of the movie is relevant to nothing I said but ok lol

[@SlowDownAl]

@@streq9199 I know; it just all came back to me how bad that movie was.

[@scarletletter4900]

The director really had something to say, and someone had a vested interest in making sure it went unsaid.

[@DG-gx8pn]

I have no idea how people genuinely thought the ending was a happy one, that shit was depressing.

[@razieldumas]

Well shit. Now I need to watch Midsommar again.

[@ianlaue6283]

Im a little disturbed that any story that involves burning a group of non-resisting persons alive, regardless of their past transgressions, is viewed as "happy". That alone ought to cause moral disturbance to any sane person. There's also just so much of this plot that is just straight up ripped off of The Wicker Man, but Im sure Im not the first person to point that out. Its still excellent, but thats just proof sometimes stories can change a lot in the retelling

[@CreoTan]

I think the context of this being a movie creates a suspension of disbelief where those kinds of horrific acts aren't seen as disturbing, because the audience is detached from a sense of reality. For one it *is* a movie, and especially with horror or action movies, the audience goes into the experience already anticipating to see and accept things that they would never accept in real life. (It's why slasher movies and violent video games can exist without traumatizing everyone who watches them) The way Midsommar is structured and how it plays with perceptions of reality also add to this suspension of disbelief. What makes Midsommar fascinating is that its using these aspects purposefully in order to lull the audience into that false sense of security, and to discourage us from questioning these things--so many people don't realize how horrific it really is until they can look at the movie from another angle (+ looking at movies from a critical angle involves NOT suspending your disbelief bc you're looking at every piece of the movie to analyze and usually avoid "letting things slide") But it is very interesting how framing, story structure, and storytelling tools can change what an audience takes away from a story. I wonder if anyone's done an in-depth look into comparing the two movies

[@CrabCrow]

Oh dang, was the Nazi book in the theatrical version? I totally missed that. I never thought the ending was happy. There was this motif about breathing throughout the film. Dani's family was killed by asphyxiation and she struggles to breath in several scenes. The Harga do that inward breath thing at each other. But in the end when most people see her happy and moving on, I saw her chocking and coughing on the smoke from the fire. She's not in a better place and she still can't breath. She's not free.

[@BambiLena666]

This in part to me was the point of midsommar. I didnt really catch a lot of things you presented, but the ultimate idea is we need community, we need to interact with other humans with empathy and care, and that can be very hard sometimes because some traumas are exausting and scary to think about, for example Ive had a lot of cancer related deaths in my family in the last 8 years and Ive had people tell me not to talk about it because ''they cant'' and thats fine, they shouldnt be forced, but we all need a community especially when going through trauma, we need to feel held. It sometimes seems we've forgoten that. And thats where cults thrive. On people left alone in their traumas, its where, really any number of self destructive and destructive things thrive. Watching it I kept thinking about how little was needed for all this to be avoided. Small decisions, compasions, small gestures. A helping hand. We forgot how important community really is. Thank you for this video. This is why I decided to go into a ''helping'' profession, we sometimes need so little, but when we are starving we dont pick our meals.

[@Anna-bm3oe]

This video proved that I'd become a cult victim so easily honestly

[@ShinigamiInuyasha777]

I think one of the most interesting effects it have on me is that i was alone with my opinion. I HATED the community, every time they make the protagonist do stuff that were boring, long, uncomfortable. Every time they acted with supposed empathy only to not understand the shocked of others. Every time they seem to try to act like you were one of them, while at the same time not allowing you to leave if you wanted. Now i know that those were my guts telling me that there was something VERY WRONG

[@unknownhandyman6821]

This film was really incredible. When I saw this film, I was so tense while watching this, I love it. I'm glad you made a video about one of my favorite horror films.

[@brandonhodges6010]

skittles has a better cv than me

[@radtadghostdad9077]

im really glad i found this video. every video ive watched ( mainly the ones mentioned in this) all shed a positive light onto it and i never felt like that was what the story was about. at the end of the movie when dani smiles i was dumfounded at the dread i felt but had no clue why i felt like that.

[@madz2013]

I was genuinely in a cult (not a death cult but still a cult) and I tell you it is MUCH easier than you realize to be manipulated in that way. I didn't even realize it was a cult until years later because they had brainwashed me so well

[@ShortalayPlays]

This reminds me of the reasons I've heard people have joined gangs. I have had family members in gangs and friends and friends of friends/family tell me the same. It didn't feel like there was truly a family at home for them, they felt alone and isolated, so when a potential family offered to welcome them with open arms, they embraced them. That family just happened to be a street gang.

[@dawnguinto]

Thank you! Whenever someone proclaims that their main takeaway from this film is that it's got a happy ending, I can't help but get goosebumps all over my body.

[@jamestessner5879]

Great analysis. Yours is the first I've seen on youtube that didn't miss these big points. The best thing about Midsommar is that you know the cultists are definitely the bad guys, but they sure don't feel like it. Its disorienting and troubling, just like a difficult psychedelic trip.

[@bearsbearsbears375]

I never understood why people thought this movie had a happy ending. The last scene where Dani smiles is one of the most disturbing things in cinema. I had a friend in college. she was bright and had a full scholarship and in any classroom she would always be one of the most intelligent ones. We had no idea how damaged she actually was because she was this smart and bubbly girl with a bright future ahead of her. Her parents are both dead I believe and she is estranged from all her other siblings (most of whom are abroad). Hence, because of her vulnerability, she got sucked into the most notorious cult in the Philippines. She always believed in hearing both sides of every story. So I guess when she listened to what the cult members had to say, their offers and promises must have sounded like heaven to her. People have tried to get her out of it but she would become aggressive when they did. Cults really target the most vulnerable people in society. It just goes to show, as said in this video, no matter how intelligent, logical, or secure you are, given the right circumstances, you might not even know it but you've already joined an evil cult

[@tchrisou812]

What is the name of the cult?

[@ceejaytwoyoshi8536]

is the cult INC?

[@Barakon]

8:12 this painting foreshadowed everything, heck, maybe this meant that her parents failed her as they once escaped from the cult. Now, in a way, they have been dragged by their feet back.