Plot

*Mature Content Warning*

Unlike many films in the horror genre, Midsommar opens with nothing short of a horrific tragedy. College student Dani (Florence Pugh), wakes one day to find herself in the midst of an unspeakable accident involving her bipolar sister, carbon monoxide, and a locked door to their parents bedroom. As she cries in agony for weeks on end, her boyfriend of four years, Christian (Jack Reynor), is emotionally miles away. This tragic event is the only reason he decides to keep their sinking relationship afloat. Just days before, Christian had a plan in place to break it off with Dani, unbeknownst to her. Now he must power through to console her as she has no one else. Often described as a “break up movie” by Aster, this event plants the seed for what will blossom into something much more horrifying for the relationship of Dani and Christian.

Before this tragedy, Christian and his buddies, Josh (William Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter), are invited by their Swedish friend Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to a midsummer festival celebrated by the Hårgas community in Pelle’s home of Hälsingland, Sweden. The three jump at the chance, all for differing reasons, and begin their travel plans. Scholarly Josh plans on writing his Ph.D. thesis on the celebration, comic relief Mark marvels at the thought of “exotic” women, and Christian is ready to take a much needed guy’s trip after his potential breakup with Dani. A wrench is thrown into these plans when Christian half-heartedly invites still grieving Dani to come along with them at the last minute, thinking (and hoping) she’ll say no. Much to all of the guys dismay, Dani agrees and they are off to Sweden a couple of weeks later.

Once in Sweden, everything changes. The dark beginning is now in stark contrast with the landscape of the Hårga community. Aster has created on the outside what looks to be a charming, quaint open area of greenery, rolling land, and buildings so geometric and simple in design they seem almost childish. As the group spends more and more time there, they learn this area is quite the opposite of their initial thoughts. There is something off about this group of people dressed in all white, and adorned with blooming floral headpieces. Their friendliness is creepily juxtaposed by their dead stares and unwillingness to divulge into talking about anything remotely related to themselves. The characters find themselves refreshed by the primitive environment, until the true colors of what they once thought to be a neighborly community emerge during a string of shocking rituals that deeply alarm–and permanently alter–the group. The Americans can feel something is off, but like every good horror movie character, they have to stay and find out for themselves.

Aster does not hold back on the graphic goriness of acts taking place. The gruesome nature of the film is first exposed about half an hour in, with the suicide of two elders by leaping off of a clifftop. The group, minus the still sleeping Mark, is troubled beyond words at the event they just witnessed, but even more so by the reactions of the community members. They are completely fine; like it is something they see every day (because it is). Impossibly this is one of the tamer scenes in the film. They seem to become increasingly appalling as the movie goes on. The slow-growing, inevitable sense of entrapment is captured in every way. Characters begin disappearing; some disappearances even come with an audible background scream for effect.

In the end, the lone survivor is newly crowned May Queen Dani, who is so traumatized by the previous events with her family that she takes in her new life with the Hårgas with open arms.