Midsommar (2019) directed by Ari Aster
Viewed on July 13, 2019
Synopsis:
Dani is frantically trying to reach her sister who has sent her an email hinting at suicidal thoughts. She tries her parents, who don't answer. Reluctantly (because she is worried that she is imposing on him too much), she calls her boyfriend, Christian, who tries to reassure her that her sister is just being manipulative. Christian's friends urge him to split up with Dani, something he has apparently been contemplating for a year.
Dani's parents and her sister are found dead, asphyxiated by car exhaust elaborately set up by her sister. Christian rushes over to Dani who collapses in his arms, sobbing in overwhelming pain.
In the aftermath, Christian, an anthropology student, plans a trip to Sweden with three of his friends. One of them, Pelle, comes from a small commune in northern Sweden which has an annual midsummer ritual with its own unique customs. Christian and Josh, another anthropology student are interested in observing these customs, and Mark tags along. Christian invites Dani to come along, expecting her to decline, but she decides to go.
At first, the friends (along with another outsider couple) become involved in some strange but seemingly benign ceremonies. But the benignity is shattered when two of the elders (a man and a woman) commit ritual suicide by leaping off a cliff. The man doesn't die immediately, so a few of the observers smash his head in with a large mallet. Dani is horrified, but Christian and Josh feel they should keep an open mind. (Mark is disappointed that he overslept and missed the ceremony)
From this point on, the film becomes increasingly bizarre, as one by one, the outsiders disappear. Dani and Christian are the only ones left. Dani participates in a dance contest and winds the title of May Queen. Christian is drugged and seduced into a sexual ritual with one of the natives. Dani sees the ritual through a peephole. At the end of the ritual, having impregnated the girl, he is given a drug that paralyzes him.
For the final ceremony, the sect is required to sacrifice nine victims. They have the four outsiders (Josh, Mark, and the other couple), and four insiders, two of whom have volunteered! The choice or the ninth victim, either Christian or a cult member, lies with Dani.
A bear is ritually disemboweled, and Christian is placed inside the bear "suit." He is brought into a building where the other victims (six already dead, and two who are alive) are seated. The building is set on fire, with three people burned alive, to the apparent satisfaction of Dani.
Commentary:
In the opening number of Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye explains, "You may ask, how did this tradition start? I'll tell you - I don't know. But it's a tradition." In its own way, Midsommar, explores the ways in which tradition binds a community together. The difference is that, instead of wearing prayer shawls and lighting candles, the traditions involve ritual suicide, murder, cannibalism, and various ceremonies that seem even more pointless and inane, like a dance contest straight out of They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Make no mistake about it. This is one seriously fucked-up movie. I went along for the ride because the opening sequence is so terrific that I was willing to accept almost anything. Almost. The problem is that there seems to be no logic to the rituals, nothing that allows the viewer to guess at why things are happening. What are the rules? But perhaps the pointlessness is the point.
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