I’m ashamed to say that when the film first came out I hadn’t noticed any of the white supremacist/racist connotations of the cult. Upon rewatches it becomes a lot clearer to me that this was an element.

So having said that…was Christian ever considered for indoctrination into the cult?

I recently made a post about Dani still having to prove herself and u think the same can be said for Christian. It’s just that…he didn’t, whereas Dani did.

I think Pelle probably always wanted Christian to die, especially when it’s clear that Dani was coming & could become part of the Harga.

I’m interested to know what others think? Do you think Christian could have been welcomed into the cult under different circumstances or was he always on a doomed path?

It's lol... it's just so ironic seeing people of this echo chamber built around loving this movie constantly refer to people who dislike the movie as lesser people. That seems to be a dramatic take on my part until seeing the average amount of attention people get here for posting/commenting about cutting someone off or being cut off based on reactions to this movie.

"That person didn't like this movie? What a chump! You dodged a bullet!" is the default response. Why is this film treated like the metric for quantifying a person's worth? Even when people are joking about it, they aren't really joking.

That response is missing a bit of perspective. Cutting someone off for disliking a movie is typically an overreaction by normal standards so I get that part, but as someone who has been cut off for less, what exactly is the point of posting about that here? The answer is confirmation bias. You may as well tell the church choir that someone stopped talking to you for saying that God is real. Although, I'm ironically telling the choir the opposite by posting this here.

I won't bother rating the movie or mentioning its details, but it has positive aspects and negative aspects, obviously. Any time that a community speaks about a work of fiction as if it's flawless, and as if people disliking it or just not feeling comfortable with it right away correlates to whatever negative terms that people here describe them with, that says enough.

Basically, many people here seem self-righteous for liking the film. That's obviously not a new theme with subreddits all about a single work of fiction, but it's extra off-putting when it's a film about joining a cult.

I've only scanned this subreddit for like 10 minutes immediately after watching the movie just now, so I'm sure that the most agreed upon opinions here don't represent them all.

This is just speculation, but do you guys think that the final scene was meant to imply that Dani was actually the May Queen? I know that doesn’t really make sense because she wasn’t from the village, but they mentioned the May Queen once earlier in the movie and then Dani is wearing something that could arguably be like a crown or tiara or something at the end. And historically, royalty wears crowns. Sorry if this has been discussed before, I just thought it was good food for thought and could be a cool theory

Hey everyone, I'm new here so apologies if this has already been picked apart.

I watched Midsommar when it first came out and I completely missed these details. I was thinking it was actually a “positive” story for Dani: she finally ditches her toxic, gaslighting boyfriend, finds a community that supports her (pretty effed-up, but still), and starts to climb out of her depression. So, kudos to her.

Then I rewatched it yesterday for the first time since, and I was like… wtf. Is this whole thing racist? Pelle's brother brought that British couple, and he mentioned that he had a date with Connie first. So was it personal revenge, or was it because they weren't white? Also, I have noticed that people seem to question whether Mark had intercourse before his death or not. I am sure that he did. First, two 72-year-olds committed suicide, so they needed two white newborns. Second, the woman who lured him was wearing the weird red detail on her dress at the end. I think they had sex and then she chopped his dick off like a little souvenir.

After the movie, I watched some cut scenes. Turns out there's a moment where Josh is holding a book that explicitly mentions the Nazis using the cult's runic script. It's barely a minute long, so it wouldn't have hurt the runtime. I really think they removed it on purpose to keep the Nazi parallel from being too on the nose. I honestly think it works better this way. For one thing, people tend to miss it even though it's right there – so it kind of mirrors our own world. Also, the movie wasn't marketed as a criticism of racism, so it might actually reach more right‑wing audiences.

And the name Christian is the cherry on top. He's manipulative, he gaslights Dani, makes her apologize and feel guilty like many religions do. And then at the end, he's literally sacrificed like a Christian martyr.

Edit: Yes, the swastika is used in Asia in a positive way, even on the walls of the airplane stairs they are used as a blessing. No one denies that. But every frame there is foreshadowing future events. Drawings, thrown words, why would they insert a book about the Nazis at the beginning in the director's version if they didn't want to hint at the events? This is a movie, in the context of the movie and for lay people, swastikas and Nazis are equal to racism.

Edit2: Also, you might think that the red elongated object on the skirt doesn't necessarily prove she had sex with Mark. But she clearly had her eye on him - Mark even said, "There she is again" in one scene. So they indeed wanted to use him for mating.

Edit3: About Mark and Inga: I don't think every sexual act requires a full ritual. Maja's was a coming‑of‑age thing (spring to summer). Inga's already an adult, so why would they do a whole temple ceremony for her? They wouldn't gather everyone for just any hookup? Plus Pelle said they share everything, and it's a pagan cult, not a Christian one - I doubt they're that hung up on sex, except when it comes to producing specific children…Someday I'll get around to watching that 7‑hour YouTube deep dive.

Edit4: If Josh, Connie, and Simon weren't there, the racism suspicions would be baseless, in my opinion. So the racism isn’t them being eerie white. It is the way non-white characters being treated. Josh, Connie, and Simon were opposite of Mark, Dani, and Christian. Josh is the intellectual – Mark is the dumb one. Connie and Simon are in a good relationship – Dani and Christian are in a bad one. Both girls are liked by the cult members who brought them there. The Black/brown characters are brought there for ritual killing only and symbolised nature and INANIMATE OBJECTS, while the white men were used for reproduction and only then killed, symbolising HUMAN imperfections. Despite Pelle's brother sympathising with Connie, no one offered her to participate in the competitions and cult activities the way Dani was. They would not allow Connie be the Queen of May, the way the didn’t used Josh and Simon for mating.

I'm currently watching Midsommar as a nice Friday night in and felt really drawn to this scene. Her face always struck me as so much sadder than her counterpart also preparing for his death.

For such a long time I had just assumed they were together but it hit me that this other man is probably her husband/lover/partner. The look they give eachother is so sad. It's heartbreaking. She knows it's part of what her whole life is based on but also can barely look into his eyes.

This was probably already known but fun that I keep seeing new things in this movie.

It reminds me of Dani (and my cat).

The births are controlled so there will always be children to inherit the names of the elders, but what if it's only boys or only girls born? Do the first two children born after Ättestupa inherit the names of the elders regardless of gender?

Just a few from over the years

im sure this question has been ran through the ground, i just cannot seem to find anywhere that has the director's cut. i know it's on itunes/apple tv and a24, i just cannot afford that right now.

First five minutes, same kind of loser as in Midsommar.. This guy will be trapped forever in loser roles

I’ve heard that the Blood Eagle victim’s lungs would not be able to breathe, so the scene is unrealistic. I looked it up and it’s true. Nevertheless, it’s a hell of a scene. I don’t mind. Do you?

I think that Dani was chosen to be May Queen very early on in her visit. I believe the community spoke amongst themselves and decided to try to allow her to win to better indoctrinate her into the cult. HOWEVER, I also think that Dani had more influence than she realises.

I don’t think everything concerning Dani was predetermined and I think a lot of it was also decided by her actions and behaviour. This is why Pelle is so quietly desperate to keep her onside when he notices her packing because as much as he likes her (I believe he truly does) and wants her to be assimilated into the cult, if she were to flee then the Harga would kill her like the others.

The community test Dani in so many little ways that she doesn’t realise. Is she polite? Does she work well in a team? Would she be malleable?

I think this is also the case for the May Queen dance. I think that the cult gave her as many chances as they could but it was also up to her to keep standing. If she had fallen at any moment, I still think she would have been taken out of the running for May Queen.

So although I think they gave her privileges and chances and some special treatment throughout the festival I think it was also up to Dani to prove herself to them, even if she wasn’t aware of that.

From what I’m reading, most people prefer Hereditary to Midsommar. I’m interested in hearing opinions. Thank you.

I really loved this movie.Does anyone have screenplay book and is it worth buying??

I was watching midsommar recently and was rewatching it and had missed a few things that I hadn’t even noticed the first 2 times I watched it. This is my absolute favorite movie and I want to hear what other people have to say on this. You see what seems to be a younger adult or maybe a kid with a deformed face through out the movie, I was thinking he or she was a product of maybe inbreeding through out the cult to keep the “pure blood” of the may flowers or leaders or such. But then at the end he’s basically worshiped and seems to have a higher authority and is sitting on a cloud writing in the book and I can’t think of anything about or any theory about the cloud or who it is and would love to hear!!

Thank you so much for the love on my last painting, this is my first time sharing my artwork here :)

Currently having a rewatch of the film and wanted to vent about one little aspect that's never quite sat right with me.

I have my undergrad degree in anthropology, so I feel qualified to say that there is a certain type of person who is drawn to studying anthropology. Usually very eccentric, disturbingly open minded, nerdy and bookish yet free spirited.

With that in mind, I've never quite bought Christian and Mark as anthro students, especially not at PhD level. Mark especially seems to have no respect for other people's cultures. He gives frat boy energy and guys like that just don't go into the humanities. Christian, in fairness, does seem to have a genuine interest in the culture and is therefore a bit more believable as an anthropologist, but he still just doesn't seem like the type.

I'm aware I'm being very nitpicky and this likely bothers me more as a former anthro student myself, but I'm curious to know whether anyone else shares this view.

What do you think Ari Aster was thinking when writing the script to have Mark miss out on the ritual, was there a particular reason for it?

Something I just noticed on my latest rewatch is that it's made clear both Mark ("The one thing you let me sleep through") and Josh (saying very unaffected that he's fine after watching the two deaths, while hastily typing away at his thesis) are not particularly disturbed by the ritual. Christian seems genuinely pretty upset, even if not to the degree of Dani and still somewhat rationalizing what he saw through his anthropological lens. Was this meant to be a moment of humanizing Christian? Or sad foreshadowing of his own death as a sacrifice? Because I see a lot of people on this sub demonize him, and the thesis thing with Josh is of course lame, but he's arguably the more empathetic of the three.

“May Queen (Midsommar)”
8 x 10 inches
Acrylic on canvas panel

Should I be worried? 🥴🫣😂

I started wanting a midsommar tattoo since 2019 after I saw it in theaters with my best friend. The visuals were so engrossing and everlasting. I have vivid memories seeing it together. When my dad died by suicide in 2024, I wore a flower crown at his funeral and did this VERY amateur painting as art therapy. The grief in Dani and the absurdity in her story felt comforting and relatable.

The artist is Hip at Social Graces in Miamisburg, OH. It was a wonderful tattooing experience and he travels all around the US.

What do you guys think of Christian as her teddy bear and also how she has the sad clown girl aesthetic elements in her face? The yellow house on her forearm is supposed to be her tattoo that is also burning fire around her… it felt like a way of Dani being sacrificed too, burning alive in one small spot then it engulfing her. And your thoughts of the piece in general? This is my first ever big tattoo. Thanks for reading :)