Midsommar - Understanding the Momentous Occasion
Dani:
I'm really sorry, Pelle. Thank you for inviting me, but I really need to go. Can someone maybe drive me?
Pelle:
I did warn you this time. I know it looks extreme, but we only do this once every ninety years. It's – what's the word...?
Dani:
I understand that it's momentous.
Pelle:
Right! Exactly!
Dani:
I don't know why we're here, Pelle! I don"t know why you invited us!
Pelle:
Okay: Here: Sit down. Please. I invited my friends because this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I wanted to share it. Especially with my friends who I knew would appreciate it, because I am proud of this place.
Dani:
But I’m not an anthropologist. I don't have the foundation to understand this.
Pelle:
And yet I was the most excited for you to come. Here: smell this.
Dani:
What is it?
Pelle:
It calms you down. Go on. Inhale. I will, too. Isn’t that nice?... I know what you're going through, Dani.
Dani:
What am I going through? I'm scared. I can't breathe.
Pelle:
You're going through a lot. I know you are, and I'm gonna say something now, because my birth parents are both gone, too--
Dani: [crying]
What?! That's not what I'm talking about!
Pelle:
I know, and that's fine, but please... My birth-parents both died when I was a little boy. They burned up in a fire, and I became – technically – an orphan. So believe me when I say I know what that is, because I do. Yet my difference is: I didn't get a chance to feel lost. Because I had a family – here – where everyone embraced me and swept me up and I was raised by a community that doesn’t distinguish between what is theirs and what is not theirs. That's what you were sacrificed to. But I – have always felt... held. By a family. A real family. Which everyone deserves. And you deserve.
Dani: [looks down at Pelle's hands holding hers]
Christian could walk in.
Pelle:
He's what I'm talking about. And he's my good friend and I like him... But do you feel held by him, Dani? Does he feel like a home to you? My pilgrimage has been fun. New York is fun... But I also find it terrifying how people live. As if it's necessary and even good to be lost and drifting...and I haven't spent one night over there that I haven't longed to be back here...in the lap of the Hårgas. Stay, Dani. Please. It will be good... And I swear we're all finished sacrificing animals.
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Midsommar - Warning About Cultural Practices in Midsommar
Pelle:
I need to warn you before we go down...because you might not want to.
Dani:
Is this gonna be something weird?
Pelle:
Uhhh – it might seem very weird, but it's a great honor for them.
Dani:
Is this the thing you mentioned last night?
Josh:
Ättestupan.
Pelle:
We're about to perform a centuries-old rite that is very important to us and very beautiful, but also – very far from anything you have in America.
Dani: [suddenly nervous]
Do I not want to do this?
Pelle: [pauses]
Well – that's what I'm saying. You're invited to. I just... You remember I explained the winter stage of a man’s life goes from 53 to 72? Well, this is what happens when 72 is reached.
Dani:
Okay. And what is "this"? What is Ättestupan?
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Midsommar - Waiting for the right moment to sit
Christian: [in hushed tones]
How long do they typically stand?
Pelle:
Uh we're gonna stand until it's – right to sit.
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Midsommar - Anticipation for the Upcoming Ceremony
Pelle:
All right – beauty rest! Tomorrow's a big day.
Josh:
And what's tomorrow?
Pelle:
First of the big ceremonies.
Josh:
So you're just gonna be weird and cryptic?
Josh: [eyes widening]
Are you serious?
Christian: [pulls out his phone and types "Atestupan" into a search engine, but there's no internet connection.]
What's that? What's Ättestupan? Fuck. What’s Ättestupan?
Dani:
Is it scary?
Josh:
You'll see.
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Midsommar - Life Stages Compared to Seasons
Christian:
Who all sleeps in here?
Pelle:
All the younger ones. Until we turn 32. Then we move to the houses.
Josh:
Why 32?
Pelle:
We think of life like the seasons. You are a child until you're 16, and that is the Spring. At some point we all do our Pilgrimage, and that's between 17 and 32. That's Summer. Then, from 33 to 52, you're of working age: Fall. And finally from 53 to 72, you become a mentor.
Josh:
Winter.
Dani:
What happens when you turn 72, then?
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Midsommar - Acknowledging the Presence of a Bear
Mark: [as they pass a bear in a cage]
So we just gonna ignore the bear then?
Pelle: [shrugs]
That's a bear.
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Midsommar - Deciding Between Choices and Regrets
Mark:
Dude: you need to stop sitting on the fence with this.
Christian:
But what if I end up regretting it a week later, and then I can't get her back?
Mark:
You don't want her back!
Christian:
I might!
Mark:
So then you can bitch to us for that week about how much you regret it, and we'll be like, "Dude: you've been wanting out of this absurd relationship for the last year," and you'll be like "Oh shit, that's right" and then you can find some new chick who actually likes sex and who doesn’t drag you through a million hoops a day.
Josh:
Do you think a masochistic part of you is playing this drama out to distract you from the work you actually need to be doing?
Christian:
And what work do I actually need to do, Josh?
Josh:
Uhhh – your prospectus maybe? I dunno. Your PhD...?
Waitress:
Whenever you guys are ready.
Pelle:
Thank you.
Waitress: [She smiles at Christian]
Thank you.
Mark:
Dude. You could be getting that girl pregnant right now.
Pelle:
And don't forget all the Swedish women you can impregnate in June.
Mark:
Yeah, dude – don't forget all the Swedish milkmaids.
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Midsommar - Pelle's Reflection on Parental Loss
Pelle:
My parents died in a fire.
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Midsommar - Harmony in Nature's Mechanism
Pelle:
Nature just knows instinctually how to stay in harmony! It's mechanical. Everything doing its part.
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