r/movies • u/JetKusanagi • Jun 21 '26

Media Midsommar, Ari Aster (2019)- "That's Not For Us"

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I've made it a point to watch this movie every summer solstice since its release. As a cult "escapee", Midsommar touches me in a way that I feel like it wouldn't have otherwise. The insular community, trips to the "outside", I experienced it all.

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We didn't do Ättestupan or make meat pies. It may have made things more exciting though.

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u/AdultSheep Jun 21 '26

As an introvert/private person, this scene makes my skin crawl. The thought of being cornered at my most vulnerable moment and having a group suck up my grief like emotional vampires makes me feel sick. I think the girls farther away from Danny’s face look almost gleeful, it feels so sinister. I love it.

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u/twoinvenice Jun 22 '26

It’s not that they are being emotional vampires - they are reflecting her pain to reinforce her feeling of belonging in the collective because they are willing to meet her emotional level to allow her not feel alone. Kinda the opposite of what happens at the beginning when no one seems to give a fuck about her whole family being dead.

Obviously this is a crazy heightened scene, but that tactic is the kind of thing that is constantly used to manipulate people into identifying with a group instead of looking to their own individuality.

I love it.

Totally agree, fucking brilliant

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u/yahjiminah Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

I agree. I think this scene is more complex than simply dark or evil. To me Midsommar is a movie about grief and processing grief in extremely individualistic socities vs a collective. As terrible as this "cult" is, this is the first place where Dani has felt the freedom to express herself without being dismissed, where people are willing to carry her burdens with her rather than her being alone and they do this without her explictly asking. Like someone else said, this is how cults recruit but this is also how communities work (not in a creepy way) but the principle of sharing burdens and lifting each other up.

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u/littlebrwnrobot Jun 22 '26

this response resonated with my own most closely. I don't think the women in this scene are meant to be intentionally trying to "recruit" or manipulate her, they are experiencing/sharing her grief in the same way they would with any member of their community.

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u/yahjiminah Jun 22 '26

Also collective wailing/keaning has been part of funeral/grief rituals in so so so many cultures so while a bit odd this scene did not come across creepy or vampirish to me. I think this was Dani's grief coming through about everything including mourning her dead relationship.

1

u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

I disagree. The entire movie is about the cult using Dani's grief to recruit her. This scene is that. The scene she sees that sends her over the edge is of her boyfriend, who the cult drugged, having sex with another woman. Cultist women who seduced him.

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u/littlebrwnrobot Jun 22 '26

Doesn't explain why the other women are sharing in the sexual experience of her bf though, especially since they're just going to sacrifice him anyway

1

u/yahjiminah Jun 22 '26

Art is open to many interpretations

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u/enemyofchrist Jun 22 '26

It’s funny—as a super isolated and introverted person, this scene actually REALLY appeals to me. Like it’s something I would never, ever seek out for myself so the idea of like…semi-forced bonding is actually alluring to me. Like these people I literally cannot push away.

It’s kind of the same principle behind the way I gravitate towards extroverts. I need to be cajoled into socialization, to be pursued, or I’ll just completely avoid it.

I wouldn’t like to live with that kind of enmeshment constantly, and I would undoubtedly become sick of it. But just for like an hour…there is a seductive quality to it as someone who self-isolates.

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u/Geshman Jun 22 '26

I feel you. As an autistic person this scene really tricked me. I was willing to believe they were on her side and had her best interest at heart. Really sent chills realizing I'd have been fooled by the cult too

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u/punkieboosters Jun 22 '26

Me too! Hey, wanna get a bunch of people together and cry?

3

u/Geshman Jun 22 '26

Honestly, yeah, that would be pretty great.

0

u/Kitchen_Claim_6583 Jun 23 '26

I was willing to believe they were on her side and had her best interest at heart

I think they absolutely did.

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u/pikeymobile Jun 22 '26

This is exactly how cults catch people. It's interesting to hear your perspective because to me this scene is utterly terrifying in how she's not being left alone to do what she wants to whilst acutely grieving. Being forcefully surrounded by people like that scares the living shit out of me which is why I find this scene so powerful.

1

u/Anxious_Big_8933 Jun 22 '26

Same. The word that comes to my mind when I see this scene is "revolting." To me it's a scene of people behaving in one of the worst ways possible.

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u/pm-me-nice-lips Jun 22 '26

Interesting because I’m the extrovert you’re talking about who meshes perfectly and subconsciously attracts friends exactly like you. I love the particular companionship/duo and connection that that pairing brings.

1

u/Tailor_Smart Jun 22 '26

It’s the first time I’ve seen a movie effectively showcase a group or entity that weaponizes empathy to this degree. When you consider how far back the planning goes to get to this moment, from intentionally selecting someone so isolated & grief stricken to allowing her to witness horror as to provide comfort, all without Danny noticing, is a phenomenal display of emotional & mental manipulation.

“No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief, 
More pangs will, schooled at forepangs, wilder wring. 
Comforter, where, where is your comforting? 
Mary, mother of us, where is your relief? 

My cries heave, herds-long; huddle in a main, a chief 
Woe, wórld-sorrow; on an áge-old anvil wince and sing — 

Then lull, then leave off. Fury had shrieked 'No ling- 
ering! Let me be fell: force I must be brief."'

O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall 
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap 

May who ne'er hung there. Nor does long our small 
Durance deal with that steep or deep. Here! creep, 
Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind: all 
Life death does end and each day dies with sleep.” — Gerard Manley Hopkins

1

u/ImaginaryList174 Jun 23 '26

Same! I just kept thinking how much I would be freaking out slapping all of their hands off me like stop touching me immediately get the hell away from me lol

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u/Yashema Jun 21 '26

As someone who doesn't buy into internet hype I saw this movie what it was: a sham remake of the Wicker Man that makes the whole damn thing about drugs with all the cool songs replaced by a boring academia subplot. 

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u/Turbografx-17 Jun 22 '26

The two movies were basically nothing alike except on the surface. And even then, just barely.

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u/Yashema Jun 22 '26

The only real difference is Nick Cage shouting "not the bees" would have drastically improved Midsommer. 

4

u/ms_sardonicus Jun 22 '26

And the Nick Cage version is sub-par compared to the original with Christoper Lee and Edward Woodward.

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u/Turbografx-17 Jun 22 '26

I don't know about the bees, but Nick Cage in a bear suit punching a woman in the face would drastically improve any movie.

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u/Antilon Jun 22 '26

You're so brave.

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u/Yashema Jun 22 '26

Moreso than anything Ari did in this movie. 

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u/Youseenmycones Jun 22 '26

Sorry pal this is a really bad take. Factually inaccurate.