Name: Midsommar
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Released: 2019-07-03
Duration: 147 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Will Poulter, Vilhelm Blomgren

Midsommar

Life as a Joyful Cycle

Siv Please! What you just saw is a long, long, long observed custom. Those two who jumped have just reached the end of their Hårga life-cycle, and you need to understand it as a great joy for them. And when it is my turn, it will be a great joy for me. We view life as a circle. A re-cycle. The lady who jumped, her name was Ylva, yes? And that baby over there, who is not yet born, will inherit that name. Instead of getting old and dying in pain and fear and shame, we give our life – as a gesture. Before it can spoil. It does no good dying, lashing back at the inevitable. It corrupts the spirit.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Navigating Emotional Vulnerability in Relationships

Dani It's just in his tone – you can hear it. It's like he's trying to work up the nerve to say something and I just keep staving it off.

[on the phone]

Girlfriend So don't stave him off. Be direct! Confront him!

Dani Well – what if I scared him? I'm always roping him into my family crap... I'm always leaning on him! I tell him everything! I even called him today in tears because my sister sent me another scary email. What if I'm scaring him off?

Girlfriend Oh – how do you rope him in?That’s what he's there for! What did your sister write?

Dani Oh – just some ominous bullshit! She does it all the time! It’s torture, and I've been completely leaning on him for support! What if I overwhelmed him and now he thinks I have too much baggage?

Girlfriend Well, if that's the case, then good riddance! Right?

Dani No! Not if I went too far! What if I leaned too heavily?

Girlfriend You didn't! He should be there when you need him.

Dani But what if I need him too often? If it becomes a chore?

Girlfriend Then he's not the right guy. Because it shouldn't ever be a chore. Would it be a chore if he leaned on you?

Dani But he never asks for anything from me! I've never even seen him cry! So I'm the only one leaning!

Girlfriend Or the only one opening up! The only one making yourself vulnerable. That's intimacy.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

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 Thank you.

[She smiles at Christian]

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.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Searching for Meaning in Disconnection

Dani I got lost.

[having a bad trip]

Christian Let's go back to the group.

Dani Christian. Nothing means anything.

Christian What?

Dani Nothing means anything! We're just alone. And I felt this presence – like God but not God – and it was telling me this and it was laughing at me.

[tearing up]

Christian You heard laughing?

Dani I felt it laughing! I figured it out, that nothing means anything and we're born alone and we die alone, and it was getting pleasure from that.

Christian Okay: no. We're going back to the friends. You're having a bad trip, and you're thinking you're alone because you went off and you made yourself alone. You just got scared. You have me. Everything’s connected. We're all one. Those are the good things you’re supposed to think about when you trip. We're all unified. Fuck.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Harmony in Nature's Mechanism

Pelle Nature just knows instinctually how to stay in harmony! It's mechanical. Everything doing its part.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Disappearance Raises Suspicion Among Friends

Sven Where is your friend? Josh?

[after one of the sacred texts goes missing]

Christian I know, ah... We have no idea.

Sven He, and your other friend – They both disappear the same day. You see how it looks?

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

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 What?! That's not what I'm talking about!

[crying]

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 Christian could walk in.

[looks down at Pelle's hands holding hers]

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.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Understanding Emotional Expression in Rituals

Sven We describe it like "emotional sheet music.

[showing Josh a sacred text]

Josh What does it say?

Sven Well, each runic letter represents one of the 16 affects, which are graded from most holy to most unholy. This one here is about grief. You can see at the end, however, we have blank pages. This is because the Rubi Radr is a constant work in progress. Forever evolving. We have many, many hundreds of these.

Josh And who decides what's added?

Sven Well, uh, this iteration is being written by Rubin.

Josh Wait. The... disabled?

Sven Since birth. He draws, and we, the Elders, interpret. You see Josh, Rubin is unclouded by normal cognition. It makes him open for the source.

Josh Uh, what happens when Rubin... dies? Do you just wait for a baby that is... "not clouded"?

Sven No, no, no. Uh, Ruben was a product of inbreeding. All of our Oracles have been deliberate products of inbreeding.

[chuckles]

Josh Can I take a photograph?

Sven What?

Josh Uh, a photograph.

Sven No! Absolutely not!

[closes book]

Josh Okay, sorry.

Sven Absolutely not.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Acknowledging the Presence of a Bear

Mark So we just gonna ignore the bear then?

[as they pass a bear in a cage]

Pelle That's a bear.

[shrugs]

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Waiting for the right moment to sit

Christian How long do they typically stand?

[in hushed tones]

Pelle Uh we're gonna stand until it's – right to sit.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

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 Are you serious?

[eyes widening]

Christian What's that? What's Ättestupan? Fuck. What’s Ättestupan?

[pulls out his phone and types "Atestupan" into a search engine, but there's no internet connection.]

Dani Is it scary?

Josh You'll see.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

Midsommar

Tradition and Omen in Midsommar Ceremony

Siv And now, in keeping with tradition: Hjalmar and Josef will make three trips. If they make it back with the flame intact, our vintage will be abundant this year! On the other hand, if it burns out – that will be an omen of bad luck and we will know to prepare.

Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.

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 Do I not want to do this?

[suddenly nervous]

Pelle 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.

[pauses]

Dani Okay. And what is "this"? What is Ättestupan?

Midsommar

Tensions Rise Among Characters in Midsommar Scene

Ulf You're pissing on my people! Your little fucking American friend! He's pissed on the Rotvälta!

[shouting in Swedish to Mark; to Pelle]

Ulla Christian? Christian... Hi. Hello! There you are! Listen: You can't speak. You can't move. All right? Good.

[snaps fingers twice; smiles; smiles]

Maja I feel it! I can feel the baby!

[in Swedish after being impregnated by Christian during the mating ritual]

Midsommar

Announcement of a Missing Sacred Book

Sven Well. We, um - have something regretful to announce. This morning, the nineteenth book of Rubi Radr was found missing, from the temple. We don't want to - point fingers, and yet we kindly ask that whoever took it return it, to its original place. You can leave it in the temple, which will be left unguarded, unwatched. Nobody need to know, it was you.

Midsommar

Search for Connie in the unknown.

Dani Has anyone seen Connie?

Christian I think Mark saw her earlier.

Mark I'm sure I saw her trying out for the sprinting Olympics earlier.

Dani What, where?

Jarl Sorry, but I can say what happened. Her boyfriend called our landline from the train station and calmed Connie down. She begged our pardon and I drove her to meet him.

Christian OK. That's really...

Dani Why would Simon leave without her?

Christian I'm sure it was just a miscommunication.

Midsommar

Ceremony of Sacrifice and Renewal in Hårga

Siv On this, the day of our deity of reciprocity, we gather to give special thanks for the precious Sun. As an offering for our Father, we will today surrender nine human lives. As Hårga takes, so Hårga also gives. Thus, for every newblood sacrificed, we will dedicate one of our own. That is: four newbloods, four from Hårga, and one to be chosen by the Queen. Nine in all, to die, and be reborn, in the great Cycle.

Sten The four newbloods, have already been supplied. As for our end, we have two already dedicated... And two who have volunteered. Ingemar and Ulf. You have brought outside offerings, thus volunteering your own bodies. You will today be joined in harmony with everything. And to Pelle, who has brought new blood, and our new May Queen, you will today be honored for your unclouded intuition. And so, for our ninth offering. It is traditional that our fair Queen shall choose, between a preselected newblood, and a specially ordained Hårgan.

[they step forward]

Sven Turbeyon.

Sten Honorable Turbeyon! Please step forward. And... These are your candidates for the ninth and final offering. We patiently await your verdict. The honor has been bestowed on Christian Hughes, our ninth and most sacred offering!

[Turbeyon steps forward from the crowd; A Hårgan woman wheels Christian, whose eyes are locked wide, away from the base of the stage. She positions Christian beside Dag to also be facing the stage; Dani's eyes go back and forth before settling on Christian]

Midsommar

Pelle's Reflection on Parental Loss

Pelle My parents died in a fire.

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?

Midsommar

Limitations of Fire and Ambition

Siv This high my fire. No higher. No hotter!

[in Swedish]

Midsommar

May Queen's Tradition and Solo Journey

Siv Now it's traditional for the May Queen to bless our crops and livestock. And after the luck - you just inherited from that salt herring, we should all be doubly encouraged!

[laughter; pause]

Dani Can Christian come with me?

Siv Nej. The Queen must ride alone.

Midsommar Quotes