Creepy Catalog is owned by the Thought and Expression Company, a small, independent media company. And I think there's also maybe a funny dichotomy between a certain elegance that the movie's going for and a certain maximalist-ness. The image of the film often subtly warps as the actors at times seem a bit dazed as if they are off on their own separate trips. He lifts his mangled head. And, as usual, Florence Pugh is just brilliant as Dani. For Reynor, the scene brought up a mix of emotions. And for me, the best filmmaking is almost always mischief-making, especially when you're making genre films. Not only because the entire storyline isnt done to death, but because the different plots fill us with dread from all directions. And it's almost as though after that first impact, she's watching everything from underwater. This scene in "Midsommar" pulls from the folkloric idea of the ttestupa, a legendary ritual through which Scandinavian elders may or may not have thrown themselves from cliffs in historic times. Why did you choose these actors to play the two elders who kill themselves?The man who plays the second jumper [Bjrn Andrsen] is actually very famous in Sweden. The scene is absolutely gruesome. That atypical shot of easygoing energy also plays into the uncanny mix of restraint and chaos that gives Midsommar Asters second film, and the follow-up to his acclaimed 2018 horror hit Hereditary its shocking, disturbing power. The decision alone isn't the scariest part, though. Many might not reflect upon 28 Days Later (2002) as one of the world's scariest horror films, but its desolate depiction of a viral outbreak seems more real than any other. Christian, who has spent the moments leading up to this ceremony tripping on an herbaceous, psychoactive drink, stumbles his way into the room. The beginning of the movie establishes a grim tone and subtly affects what transpires at the festival in Sweden. And thats the scary part., Hereditary fused the occult tumult of Rosemarys Baby with the family drama of Ordinary People. For Midsommar, Aster has created a conjoined hybrid of The Wicker Man style folk horror with the painful examination of heartbreak as in Modern Romance.. Directed by: Danny Boyle. The event traumatized Dani and showed just how little Christian actually cares about her. This ritual, by contrast, seems to be relatively sedate, as Svensson, explaining that the burning buoy in the center symbolized the sun, described the ritual as consisting of a single step: Nine naked women with torches swim to the buoy and the ceremony consists, simply put, of symmetrical movement with the buoy in center.. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. They are a couple who decides to leave after witnessing the ttestupa, a traditional ceremony where members of the commune who have reached the age of 72 commit suicide by leaping off a cliff. Through our interpretation, it stands for something more closely in line with the life cycle.. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Directed by: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Snchez . You're dealing with the logic of why people don't leave when something horrible happens. Directed by: Tommy Lee Wallace. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult. Another man who was chosen to be sacrificed sat there waiting for the flames to engulf him. But it's interesting to watch it with an audience and to see some people laughing and other people going, 'this is horrifying. After working with them on research of Swedish folk traditions, as Aster sat down to write the script, he was drawn to take it in another direction following a tumultuous romantic break-up. Still trying to make the best of things, Dani sleeps at the main commune despite her clearly fragile emotional state that her supposed friends continue to ignore. The name supposedly denotes sites where ritual senicide took place during pagan Nordic prehistoric times, whereby elderly people threw themselves, or were thrown, to their deaths. And then this woman from the village runs over to feverishly explain their philosophy to some of the panicking visitors. ", So, it was an opportunity to be part of something that flipped that on its head, and I really wanted to engage with the experience of it by advocating for as much full-frontal nudity as possible., I didnt have to do anything like Jacks scene, Pugh told Vanity Fair. Midsommar is one of the best horror movies weve had in a long time. For me, the best filmmaking is almost always mischief-making," the director says of ttestupa. Chunks of her head are missing. Each year, the community whittles down a May Queen through an intense endurance challenge, where dance . This film owes a great debt to the traditions of melodrama, where you kind of just swing for the fences and go big. ", Reynor, who previously worked on Transformers: Age of Extinction with Michael Bay, a filmmaker noted for his use of multiple cameras to capture the action, indicated it was a tremendously arduous scene not just emotionally but logistically. But the actor suggested that the resulting jumble of feelings audiences may have during the scene speaks to its unique place among other horror moments involving sexuality albeit where a man becomes the objectified focus of its victimization instead of a woman. The subsequent shot of first responders zipping Dani's mother and father into body bags is more than a little morose, but the scene may holden an even deeper meaning. That said, many of the rituals in Midsommar are based on actual rituals and myths from Nordic countries. The tension, as babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempts to evade masked murderer Michael Myers, only heightens with every new watch. There's Explicit Sexual Content There's a reason The Daily Beast called Midsommar's orgy scene , "The Most Insane Sex Scene of . He thought that they had given him a tranquilizer so he won't be able to feel a thing. The guy is dead, but they've got their ritual. Directed by: Ben Wheatley. He was later cleared. And [Katarina Weidhagen], the woman who plays Ylva, the first jumper, is actually a lot younger than the character she was playing. Your mind flashes back to the incident: the tragedy that forever changed the course of your life, the one that brought you here. It tells the story of a Police Sergeant who travels to an isolated island in search of a missing girl, only to find its inhabitants practising a form of Celtic paganism. Directed by: Stuart Rosenberg. From psychological horror lingering in the background as Dani processes her trauma to explicit gore and body horror, Midsommar is a movie that makes a lasting impression. What are you laughing at?' I like things that really encourage a more active audience engagement, said Aster, and if theres a way to provide exposition in a way that makes the audience do a certain amount of work that encourages them to lean in towards the movie as opposed to handing people that information its just more fun., We never talked about giving away too much, said Svensson. You cant breathe. Ad Choices. You join the small village of friendly, white-clad, flower-wearing Swedes in gathering before the steep cliff for a ritual they call ttestupa. Aside from his research with Karlqvist, Aster also worked with Henrik Svensson, a musician and artist in Sweden. "Midsommar" tells the story of Dani Ardor, who, in the first moments of the movie, loses her sister and parents to a murder-suicide. In order to be coronated as the May Queen, Dani must outlast all of the other girls in a strange dancing ritual. Midsommar star Jack Reynor on the film's bizarre sex scene and going full-frontal. Midsommar is a 2019 folk horror film written and directed by Ari Aster.The film stars Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor as a dysfunctional couple who travel to Sweden with a group of friends for a midsummer festival, only to find themselves in the clutches of a sinister cult practicing Scandinavian paganism.Supporting actors include William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia, Archie . Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon's performances tip this psychological chiller into classic status. I felt that this was an opportunity for that to be turned on its head. A24. Dont worry, you can unsubscribe any time you like. And for Dani, it's the beginning of her indoctrination into this surrogate family. Get first access to never-before-seen videos, exclusive interviews, and much more! Seeing Dani cry on his lap as he looks off, clearly thinking of himself, was an unbearable moment. According to Jack Reynor, who plays Christian, it was that climactic "mating" scene that convinced him he had to be a part of Aster's convention-flouting follow-up to Hereditary. Read our interview with Midsommar star Will Poulter here. Anybody watching the trailer for Midsommar, you probably know where its going, right? The films artwork presages much of what happens, and depicts rituals we dont get to see. Its as if they made it just for themselves.. Ari Aster continues his exploration of grief in an arresting horror-ish film. So, the scene in question, is basically a mating ritual. Directed by: George A Romero. (Isabelle Grill) starts to flirt with Christain, which is the beginning of the commune's love ritual, further pulling Christain away from Dani. It stars Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who discovers a box of home movies depicting grisly murders in the attic of his new house. Some scenes will probably linger with fans of the movie forever. Directed by: FW Murnau. By choosing I Accept, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. High on hallucinogenics and fresh from a weird rape ritual, Christian stumbles into a shed where Simon is in the middle of blood eagle torture. Most of Midsommar's characters faced a horrible death, but there's no doubt who probably suffered the most in the process. Her family dies in a very horrible way at the beginning of the film, and she's been sort of pushing it away. Aster echoed Reynor's assessment of the process, which required him to strike the right atmosphere not just in the scene itself but during shooting in order to maximize his cast members' comfort given the fact that it featured a group of naked women standing in a semicircle as Reynor and Grill simulated intercourse. Check out never-before-seen videos, exclusive interviews, and much more! Theres something twisted about them. . Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Weve created a community powered by horror fans like you and we need you in it. She's so adept at .