History Film / Midsommar

** The parallels between this film and ''Film/TheWickerMan'' are undeniable. Both films take place in the compound of a deceptively cheerful and open Nordic cult, both take place during seasonal solstices, both deeply delve into Pagan pageantry and tradition through an almost anthropological lens, both heavily thematise sacrifice for the greater good of a community, both feature maidens, bears and fools as Leitmotifs, and both end with ''[[spoiler:a reluctant outsider being burned alive in a wooden effigy]]''.

* ShoutOut: Early in the film, the college men are seated in the bar under a massive reproduction of the infamous Sophia Loren-Jayne Mansfield 'wardrobe malfunction' photo.

* DropTheHammer:
** [[spoiler:The cultists use a ceremonial mallet to MercyKill one of the elders who attempts the ritual suicide but only manages to shatter his legs.]]
** [[spoiler:Later, Josh is incapacitated by a blow from this mallet to the back of the head.]]

* HeroesWantRedheads: [[spoiler:Dani for her boyfriend Christian. And later Christian with the young seductive villager Maja. Subverted example as neither Christian nor Maja are heroic for their actions.]]

%%* IAteWhat: The male target for the sex ritual is fed a love potion with the girl's pubic hair and menstrual blood baked into the food and mixed into the drink. [[spoiler:Christian finds this out the hard way when he is unwittingly picked for the sex ritual.]] %%What was his reaction?

* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:While the Hårga as whole pull off their ritual without a hitch, and get a new May Queen out of the deal, two individual cultists (Ulf, Mark's killer who skins his face, and Ingemar, Pelle's brother who murders Connie and Simon out of jealousy), come to gruesome ends. Although both men volunteer to burn alongside Christian and the corpses of the other tourists, they discover too late that the yew tree samples they've been given to dull their pain and fear do neither. Instead, they spend their last moments screaming in agony while realizing that the religion they've given their lives for has betrayed them. On a long-enough timeline, it's not hard to imagine other cultists, perhaps even Dani herself, suffering similar fates.]]

* LoveForgivesAllButLust: Dani and Christian are extremely unhappy together, but Dani patiently puts up with his psychological manipulation, criticism, and general coldness towards her...[[spoiler:until she sees him [[MistakenForCheating seemingly cheating]] on her with Maja (unaware he was drugged beforehand), in a position the Hårga might've put her so she could finally have enough of Christian.]] Shortly after that, in her new position as the May Queen, Dani decides to [[spoiler:have Christian burned alive and sacrificed.]]

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:Christian comes across Simon in the chicken coop, his back opened up and his lungs exposed. To Christian's horror (and ours), Simon's lungs still move, seemingly indicating that he's breathing. The horror of this is mitigated somewhat by the fact that this is a physical impossibility -- you cannot breathe without the diaphragm, and since there is no actual supernatural activity in the movie, it's safe to assume Christian hallucinated the lungs moving.]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: [[spoiler:Simon ends up being [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_eagle blood-eagled]], which includes his back being ripped open to expose his lungs. When Christian finds his body, we get a shot showcasing that his lungs are still moving outside of his body, and while this could be attributed to the hallucinogenic warping exhibited throughout the film, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Midsommar/comments/f3k67i/if_you_mute_all_audio_tracks_but_no_3_you_can/ isolating the film's audio tracks reveals that labored breathing sounds were included for Simon]], indicating that [[AndIMustScream he has somehow survived this process.]] However, human lungs are physically incapable of breathing, or of doing anything save collapse under their own weight for that matter, outside of an airtight low-pressure compartment (e.g., an intact thoracic cavity).]]

* CrapsaccharineWorld: The film is set in a hippie-ish pagan commune in an environment where [[DaylightHorror the sun is up for twenty hours a day]]. This can lull viewers into a false sense of security, expecting things to be cheerful. ''They're not.''

* DaylightHorror: The festival is bright, cheerful, and absolutely terrifying. It takes place during the summer solstice, which at this latitude means the sun never completely sets.

* {{Homage}}: The film borrows shots, plot beats and even entire scenes from ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974''. This includes using almost entirely DaylightHorror, using similar shots for the locals at a dinner table, a group of students road-tripping to a remote backwater area of a country, a character ritualistically cutting their palms and marking surfaces with their blood, [[spoiler:a character being knocked out from behind by an antagonist wearing another person's face]], and so forth.

-->''"He's my good friend, and I like him, but... Dani, do you feel held by him? Does he feel like home to you?"''

->''♪ [[Music/TheWalkerBrothers The sun ain't gonna shine anymore...]]♪''

''Midsommar'' is a 2019 FolkHorror film written and directed by Creator/AriAster (of ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' fame), starring Creator/FlorencePugh, Jack Reynor, Creator/WillPoulter, and Creator/WilliamJacksonHarper.

''Midsommar'' is a 2019 FolkHorror film directed by Creator/AriAster (of ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' fame) starring Creator/FlorencePugh, Jack Reynor, Creator/WillPoulter, and Creator/WilliamJacksonHarper.

* WhamShot: [[spoiler:Christian upon discovering that Simon had been given the blood eagle treatment.]]

* DisturbedDoves: There is a shot of a flock of disturbed pigeons when the body hits the ground at the Ättestupa ritual.

-->"He's my good friend, and I like him, but... Dani, do you feel held by him? Does he feel like home to you?"

-->"Do you feel held by him? Does he feel like home to you?"

* {{Arcadia}}: Pelle makes sure they drive directly from the airport to the village (which is surrounded by beautiful
fields) without passing any big cities in between (much to Mark's dismay). Later PlayedForHorror -- [[SceneryDissonance the idyllic fields are hiding some violent customs.]]

* {{Arcadia}}: Pelle makes sure they drive directly from the airport to the village (which is surrounded by beautiful fields) without passing any big cities in between (much to Mark's dismay). Later PlayedForHorror -- [[SceneryDissonance the idyllic fields are hiding some violent customs.]]

* LotteryOfDoom: Near the climax of the movie, Siv (the Hårgan elder) declares that the ninth and last human sacrifice must be picked by the May Queen between a visitor from the outside and a separately chosen Hårgan. The Hårgan death candidate is then selected by way of a sophisticated hand-driven lottery wheel containing small wooden balls marked with runes, in which presumably each individual ball represents a person from Hårga. The Hårgan whose ball comes up, a certain Torbjörn, remains remarkably calm. Ultimately he is not the sacrifice chosen by the May Queen.

** The banner having over the road (in the upside-down scene early in the movie) reads "Stoppa massinvandringen till Hälsingland- rösta på Fritt Norr i höst!", which translates to "Stop the mass immigration to Hälsingland- vote for Free North this fall!" [[spoiler:The sign also features the same rune that is painted on the walls of the sacrificial building.]]

** Three synchronous scenes end with the characters hearing the faint sound of [[spoiler:Connie's screams coming from somewhere in the forest. She's never seen again afterwards...]]

->''♪ [[Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons The sun ain't gonna shine anymore...]]♪''

->''♪ The sun ain't gonna shine anymore...♪''

->''[[HellIsThatNoise *exhale*]]''

* IdiotBall: In spite of not even wanting Dani to come on the trip, Josh does not see fit to warn her of the meaning of "ättestupa" before bringing along a girl with severe anxiety--whose entire family, including her elderly parents, just died in a murder-suicide--to witness two violent senicides. Pelle shares some of this, too, although the fact he grew up with the tradition may explain why he [[BlueAndOrangeMorality didn't think it would be a problem]]. [[spoiler:And of course, Pelle intended to groom Dani into the cult to begin with, so on his part it was very likely deliberate to continue undermining her mental health.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Mark's urging Christian to dump Dani comes from male entitlement and personal dislike, but he's right that they're a mismatch and Christian can't help her with her problems. [[spoiler:Also, their going to Sweden as a couple winds up costing his life and her sanity]].
* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:While the Hårga as whole pull off their ritual without a hitch, and get a new May Queen out of the deal, two individual cultists (Ulf, Mark's killer who skins his face, and Ingemar, Pelle's brother who murders Connie and Simon out of jealousy), come to gruesome ends. Although both men volunteer to burn alongside Christian and the corpses of the other tourists, they discover too late that the yew tree samples they've been given to dull their pain and fear do neither. Instead, they spend their last moments screaming in agony while realizing that the religion they've given their lives for has betrayed them. On a long enough timeline, it's not hard to imagine other cultists, perhaps even Dani herself, suffering similar fates.]]

* ShellShockSilence: All ambient sounds drown out leaving only muffled voices after Dani witnesses the cliff jumping which shocks her to the core.

* ShooOutTheClowns: Following the ättestupa ritual, Mark's disappearance [[spoiler:and offscreen death]] marks the point where the film starts ''really'' ramping up the horror.

** Christian's last-minute decision to write his thesis on the Harga villagers, even though he knew in advance Josh was planning to do the same thing. Fortunately for them, the village elders are willing to accommodate both. [[spoiler:Of course, they knew in advance that at most only one of the two would survive, and both wind up perishing.]]

* WhamShot: [[spoiler:Christian upon discovering Simon had been given the blood eagle treatment.]]

* WhamShot: [[spoiler:The scene in which Christian discovers Simon had been given the blood-eagle treatment.]]