Midsommar (2019) Movie Ending and Themes Explained: Ari Aster is one of the most exciting figures in modern Hollywood. The director is part of a new generation of American filmmakers who are taking creative risks and reinvigorating the horror genre in interesting ways. Though he’s only directed three feature films and a collection of short movies, Aster has already made his mark on the industry with his oeuvre. His hard-hitting horror films, which are known for their shocking violence, unnerving scares, and willingness to explore societal taboos, have gained him a lot of notoriety on the world stage. Martin Scorcese, the Italian-American maestro himself, has called Aster “one of the most extraordinary new voices in cinema,” and praise doesn’t get more effusive than that.
Aster is a graduate of the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory, an institution that’s produced some of the biggest names in North American cinema (including David Lynch, Paul Schrader, and Terence Malick). After writing screenplays and making student films for much of his life, he broke out with The Strange Thing About the Johnsons in 2011, which was his thesis film for the AFI’s graduate program. A disturbing look at incest and power dynamics in the family unit, the horror film cemented Aster’s penchant for crafting dark stories about extremely twisted relationships.
That is a theme that has persisted throughout all his works, which started gaining steam once he joined forces with the producers at the nascent production company A24. Aster has worked with the company for half a decade at this point, and it’s been a fruitful partnership, to say the least. Aster’s debut horror film, Hereditary (2018), is the second highest-grossing movie that A24 has ever produced as of 2023 (only behind Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)). Most recently, he directed Beau is Afraid (2023) starring Joaquin Phoenix, a singular vision that spoke to the writer-director’s persistent interest in buried trauma and unhealthy relationships.
Arguably, the most iconic film of the director’s career thus far, however, is 2019’s Midsommar. The folk horror film, released just over a year after Hereditary, was noted for its spectacular visuals and deeply unsettling subject matter. Set in sunny Sweden (albeit shot in neighboring Hungary), Midsommar is a horror film that takes place almost entirely during the day. The fact that the film is as effective as it is is a testament to Aster’s gift for crafting horror films that don’t rely on cheap effects or jump scares to leave an impact on the viewer. This is an intelligent horror film, brought to life by an unflinching script that deals in themes and imagery that are so disturbing they stick in the mind of the viewer long after the credits roll.
That element of the film is probably what has brought you to this article, so join us as we dig into the themes and underlying meaning of Ari Aster’s Midsommar. Fair warning: we’ll be spoiling basically every part of the film in the process, so we recommend steering clear of this explainer until after you’ve experienced the film firsthand.
Midsommar (2019) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
Tragedy Strikes Dani’s Family
Midsommar begins its story in the winter: Dani (Florence Pugh) has been calling her sister for hours after receiving a troubling email from her, which appears to bid goodbye to life. We quickly gather that Dani’s sister suffers from depression and that she lives with their parents in a different city. Dani, in tears, tries calling her mom and dad, but they don’t respond either, and she panics. She calls her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor), informing him of the situation. Christian is unimpressed: he reminds Dani that her sister has sent suicidal messages before and that they were always false alarms in the past.
After the call ends, Christian returns to his dinner, which he is sharing with a group of friends at a restaurant. His friend group includes Mark (Will Poulter), Josh (William Jackson Harper), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren). Mark pushes Christian to break up with Dani, and we learn that this is something Christian has been wanting to do for a while. He appears to find Dani emotionally burdensome and physically withdrawn, and his friends push him to end the relationship.
Meanwhile, Dani calls one of her own friends after taking an antidepressant. She worries that she’ll scare Christian away with her emotionally turbulent life, which is due in part to her sister’s depressive episodes. Still concerned about the situation at her parents’ house, Dani cuts the call when her phone starts ringing: an unknown number is calling her. To her horror, she learns that her sister has ended her life by attaching an oxygen mask to a carbon monoxide cylinder. The gas leaked and killed her parents in their bed. Shocked to her core, Dani calls Christian again and calls him to her apartment. He arrives, and she sobs in his arms as a snowstorm rages outside.
The Invitation
Months later, the couple are still together since the tragedy prevented Christian from telling Dani about his true feelings regarding their relationship. Christian is studying for a PhD in anthropology but still hasn’t decided on what his thesis is going to be. He’s hoping that a trip to Pelle’s home in Sweden will inspire him in some way. Pelle has invited the whole friend group to attend a midsummer festival in his country, and they’re all planning to go. However, still uncomfortable in his relationship with Dani, Christian hasn’t told his girlfriend about the plan.
She finds out one day at a party, just two weeks away from the departure date. Dani expresses her surprise and displeasure at not being told about the trip beforehand, and Christian is annoyed by this. Not wanting to upset Dani any further and expecting her to be unwilling to travel herself, he invites her to join him and his friends on the trip. To his surprise, she accepts. Though his friends aren’t happy about it, Christian reminds them of what Dani is going through to tide them over.
Only Pelle appears to be open to the prospect of Dani joining the group. One evening, he tells her about the place they’ll be visiting: a remote commune in Sweden that practices different types of traditions from the more modern parts of the country. He also gives his condolences to Dani for the loss of her family, telling her that his parents died in a similar way. The mere mention of the deaths pushes Dani into a panic attack, and she retreats quickly. She clearly has not been able to move past the horrors of the winter.
The Trip To The Commune
The group lands in Sweden soon after. Though initially made a bit uncomfortable by the boys’ club atmosphere of the group, Dani begins to appreciate the beautiful sun of Sweden. On the way to Pelle’s communal home, which he tells them is called the Hårga commune, the group meets up with another batch of visitors. The new additions include Pelle’s brother Ingemar (Hampus Hallberg) and a British couple: Connie (Ellora Torchia) and Simon (Archie Madekwe). To celebrate getting together in Sweden, the group decides to indulge in some hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Though she’s initially reluctant to join them, Christian and his friends pressure Dani into drinking some shroom-laced tea. The group goes on a hallucinogen trip together, realizing in the process that night barely falls in Sweden: it’s fully bright at 9 PM. After the discussion moves to family, Dani is reminded of her own past, and the combination of her trauma and the drugs pushes her into a panic. She runs to a nearby shed, where she sees her sister’s lifeless, mask-covered face in a mirror. Hysterical, she runs into some woods and wakes up later as the group is about to leave for the final stretch to the Hårga commune.
The Hårga Welcome
The group arrives at the commune and is met by a curious community of people: Pelle, whose parents died when he was young, was essentially raised by a committee, and this is the norm for the Hårga people. They all live in a large building at the center of the village, with colorful, bizarrely shaped shrines and sheds all around the center house. The community is ruled over by a panel of elders, who welcome the visitors, and the first day passes in a blur of tours and introductions. Christian notices a red-haired girl eying him and gets up to dance with the community. Dani tells Pelle that it’s her birthday and Christian hasn’t wished her yet, which surprises him.
The Hårga are seen preparing for the midsummer festival, and Connie and Simon see a disturbing tapestry depicting a curious story in a series of illustrations. The tapestry tells a twisted love story in which a woman conjures a spell of love on a man by feeding him a pastry containing her pubic hair and a drink mixed with her urine. Spellbound by the food, he falls in love with her. At this point, Pelle tells Christian that it’s Dani’s birthday, and he gives her an impromptu birthday celebration.
The First Ritual
The next day, the group is herded to a nearby rock outcropping, which they are told is the site for an important ritual. The entire community congregates at the base of a tall cliff, on top of which stand two elders of the Hårga. Initially unsure of what the ritual entails, Dani and the group watch on in horror as one of the elders on top of the cliff jumps off. Her body smashes against the rocks below, and she dies.
As it becomes clear that the other elder will also be jumping, Connie and Simon scream at him to stop while Dani is stupefied by the proceedings. The man jumps in spite of Connie and Simon’s cries, but he does not die upon his impact with the ground. The commune members sympathize with his pain by wailing in unison as one of their members approaches his crumpled body and smashes his head in with a mallet.
A female elder tries to calm the horrified visitors, telling them that this is an ancient tradition that the Hårga have practiced for generations: every elder must kill themselves after turning seventy-two in order to allow the next generation to take their place. She tells them it is a part of their belief about the cycle of life and says that the elders look forward to the time when they may depart and bring about the coming of new life; it is an honor for them.
The remains of the two fallen elders are burned, and Dani reels from the horror of witnessing their deaths. To her shock, she learns that Christian and Josh are fascinated by the Hårga rituals instead of horrified. She suggests that they go back home, and Christian says he won’t, as he respects that the Hårga have cultural differences. Pelle meets Dani and comforts her, dissuading her from leaving by telling her he knows how she feels about her family and that he’s aware of her relationship troubles. He urges her to stay for the midsummer festivities, and she agrees.
The Group Begins to Thin Out
Christian and Josh have an argument as Christian decides he’ll be doing his thesis on the Hårga, which is what Josh was originally planning. At the same time, Connie and Simon hurry to leave, but Connie is shocked to learn that Simon has left for the train station without her. Alarmed, she demands to be taken to him. Later, the Hårga tells Dani and her group that the couple left together from the train station. That night, the red-haired girl leaves a talisman beneath Christian’s bed, which Josh sees. He asks one of the elders about it and is told the talisman is a love charm.
Later that day, Christian learns that the Hårga sometimes invite outsiders to their community in order to avoid incestuous relationships within their ranks. Dani is invited to help bake food for the festivities, and we see the red-haired girl who was staring at Christian earlier prepare a pastry and a drink for him. Josh talks to an elder about the Hårga’s sacred texts (called the Rubi Radr) and learns that they’re expanded upon by a severely disfigured child named Ruben (Levente Puczkó-Smith). Ruben is the product of incest, and the Hårga elders allow him to build upon the gospel because they see him as being unclouded by the thoughts of ordinary people and, hence, more open to the voices of the gods.
That evening, Mark angers one of the Hårga after he accidentally pees on one of their sacred trees. While eating the food the red-haired girl prepared for him, Christian finds a strand of pubic hair in the bread. He then sips the drink the girl gave him, which is clearly a different color than everyone else’s. Later during the day, Mark is drawn away by one of the Hårga women. At night, Josh sneaks out of the communal house to get into the building where the Rubi Radr is kept, hoping to take pictures of it. He is attacked and killed by a man wearing Mark’s skinned face, revealing that Mark has also been killed. That leaves only Dani and Christian in the Hårga commune.
The Midsummer Festival
The time for the midsummer festival arrives, and the community begins its celebrations the next day. Dani and Christian are questioned about the whereabouts of Mark and Josh, but they say they don’t know where they went. The Hårga tell them the Rubi Radr is missing (in a clear ploy to make them think Josh and Mark left after stealing the sacred texts). One of the elders takes Christian to a secluded room and asks him if he would be interested in having a child with a member of the community: a red-haired girl named Maja (Isabelle Grill). Uncomfortable, Christian realizes the pubic hair he found must have been hers.
Both Dani and Christian are then served drinks laced with hallucinogens. The drugs give Dani the confidence she needs to win a maypole dancing competition. To her surprise, she learns that this means she will be crowned the May Queen for the festival. The Hårga embrace her. Meanwhile, Christian is drugged and made to participate in a sex ritual involving Maja and a number of the commune’s women. He strips and has sex with Maja while the naked figures of the other women surround and encourage them, moaning along with them.
Dani hears the commotion and looks through the keyhole of the building in which the ritual is taking place. Appalled and betrayed, she has a traumatic breakdown and is comforted by other Hårga women, who wail alongside her. After climaxing, Christian appears to realize the outlandishness of the ritual and runs out of the building. He spots, to his horror, Josh’s severed leg buried in a flowerbed and runs into a barn to find Simon’s mutilated body strung up to the ceiling. Another elder sneaks up behind him and drugs him, and he falls unconscious.
The Final Ceremony
The Hårga elders inform Dani and the rest of the commune that the community must offer nine human sacrifices in order to purge itself of evil. Four of those sacrifices were Mark, Josh, Simon, and Connie, while two were of the elders who leaped from the cliff. Two more volunteers are sourced from the crowd, and the elder tells Dani that she must choose a ninth: either Christian or one of the Hårga. A shell-shocked Dani chooses her boyfriend.
Christian’s drugged, prone body is stuffed inside of the body of a disemboweled bear. The bodies of the dead sacrifices are placed inside a triangular yellow temple, and Christian and the volunteers soon join them. The commune volunteers are given drugs to numb the pain of the ceremony, but Christian isn’t given anything to ease his passing. The temple is set on fire, and the Hårga cry and scream in sympathy for those inside. Dani sobs and tries to move away but is ultimately drawn to look at the flame. She breaks into a smile.
Midsommar (2019) Movie Ending and Themes Explained:
It’s easy to be confused by the endings of any of his films, as Aster has a predilection for crafting ambiguous conclusions that leave you wondering what just happened. Case in point: Midsommar, which is particularly tricky to unwrap on the first watch. That’s because the sheer insanity of the third act comes so far out of left field that it can leave you reeling and unable to process how Aster resolves all of his thematic and narrative threads. Rest assured, the writer-director does resolve them, and Midsommar has a clear narrative theme that Aster himself has commented on in interviews. What does it all mean? Well, it’s about breakups.
You heard that right: Midsommar is a breakup movie. Aster has stated in the past that “it’s a breakup movie dressed in the clothes of a folk horror film” and has also talked about how he hopes people read it differently after the third act. “I really hope that by the time we’re on our way towards the ending, I hope that it enters some new territory,” said Aster when asked about the film’s trajectory from folk horror to relationship drama. That much is clear in the statements that the director has made about the film post-release, and it allows a pretty clear picture of the ending to come forth.
Dani and Christian are stuck in a relationship that neither of them wants to be in. Dani has become emotionally dependent on her boyfriend, and she is terrified of cutting off the only person who’s still close to her. She doesn’t want to lose anyone else after the tragedy that befell her family, even if that person is manipulative and doesn’t really love her. Christian, on the other hand, is only staying with Dani because he feels sorry for her: he doesn’t care for her beyond his desire to feel like a “good” person, a savior. Their eventual breakup, hence, serves as a fitting ending to a relationship that was more harmful than not. Reading the film through this lens allows us to see Aster’s many motifs and images in a thematically coherent light, so let’s unpack them.
A Tragic Romance Structured Like a Folk Horror Tale
As discussed above, Midsommar is, at its core, a tragic romance movie that Aster has styled in the form of a folktale. In fact, the entire thing is even structured like a folktale, and Aster drives this point home by opening the film with a mural foreshadowing or outright depicting the film’s major events (such as the death of Dani’s family and the bear that is skinned for Christian’s sacrifice). Starting the film in this way immediately lends the movie an air of mysticism, even though the actual content of the film is quite legible: it’s about a couple that’s extremely unhappy and in need of release from the chains of the relationship.
Aster has often explored dark relationships within family structures (The Strange Thing About the Johnsons, Hereditary, and Beau is Afraid all carry this theme), but Midsommar is his only film out of those that center around a romantic relationship. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t get twisted, as Dani and Christian have a very complicated, rather depressing dynamic that doesn’t benefit either of them. Midsommar draws parallels between the nature of their relationship and the rituals that the Hårga people practice.
The Ritualization of a Breakup
Those rituals draw heavily from folk horror tales of the past, and Aster uses them to comment on the darkness of the central relationship. Just take what the elder says to Dani and the rest of the visitors after they see the first two sacrifices: “Instead of getting old and dying in pain and fear and shame, we give our life.” This is a clear allusion to how Dani and Christian, suffering from pain, fear, and shame in different ways, are unable to purge themselves of a relationship that just isn’t working. The Hårga hasten the process, as the elder says to Christian at the end: “With you, we purge our most unholy affects.”
This is heavily ironic, as the practices of the Hårga people are obviously evil. However, in the process of involving themselves in the rituals, Dani and Christian also inadvertently ritualize the process of breaking up. In the same way that Christian participates in the sex ritual and Dani participates in the May Queen ritual, both end up enacting their breakup through the ritual of the human sacrifices. This, of course, comes at great cost to Christian, but Dani comes out better: her sobs while looking at the burning temple at the end are replaced with a smile of relief at finally being free of Christian, whose inability to tell her the truth cost him dearly.
The Character of Ruben
One of the most intriguing and haunting images in the entire film is that of the character of Ruben, who serves as the oracle for the Hårga and the child appointed to expand on the commune’s sacred texts. When Josh asks the elder to explain Ruben’s background, he learns that Ruben was borne of incest, which the Hårga believe makes him “unclouded.” This, of course, is yet another example of the evil of the Hårga people, but it’s also a pointed symbol of the evil inherent to Christian and Dani’s relationship.
While you might not think the relationship between Christian and Dani is all that malevolent, Aster adds a layer of pitch-black humor by comparing their false relationship to an incestuous one. Ruben represents the end result of an incestuous relationship and is an innocent victim of a barbaric practice. Here, Aster comments on how relationships that are not honest and built on solid premises naturally result in twisted ends. Just as the incest in the Hårga community led to Ruben’s unfortunate disfigurement, the dishonesty between Dani and Christian leads to the terrible sacrifice at Midsommar’s conclusion. Ruben is, hence, a symbol of relationships that simply should not exist, and Dani and Christian’s relationship is an example of one such coupling.
Dani’s Depression
Another very important part of the film’s thematic backbone is the theme of depression and isolation. Dani is a depressed soul suffering from the trauma of what happened to her family. The emotional baggage she carries is symbolized by one of the film’s most chilling images: her dead sister’s vacant face, still wearing the oxygen mask she used to kill herself. This image of the face recurs frequently. We see it in the mirror in the shed that Dani runs to after she experiences a bad trip, but the next time we see it is even more chilling. After Dani becomes the May Queen and is carried toward the venue of the festival, we see her sister’s face superimposed over the woods behind her:
The recurrence of the image of her sister just goes to show how Dani is still suffering from PTSD, and the drug trips and manipulation she experiences in Sweden don’t help. Ultimately, Dani is a very troubled character whose fear of being left alone pushes her to make severely unwise decisions (such as staying with Christian and allowing him and his group to pressure her into doing things she doesn’t want to, such as taking the mushrooms or not leaving the commune). Just the mere mention of her family pulls her into a panic attack, and Christian’s emotional unavailability only pushes her further toward the brink of madness.
The Theme of Rebirth
Of course, in a very bizarre way, the ending to Midsommar can be read as a happy one for Dani’s character. Her willingness to smile in the very last shot tells her that she’s relieved to be free of the pain and suffering of her past life. She’s finally been cut off from everything linking her to the person she once was, and this is a kind of rebirth for her character to relish. However, it’s also important to remember that the act of ending Christian’s life is one she takes herself.
The Hårga ask her to choose between her boyfriend and one of their own volunteers, and it’s safe to say that choosing the volunteer would have been the more ethical decision to take. However, Dani, heartbroken by Christian’s betrayal, chooses to end his life instead. She can’t quit the relationship herself, so she tasks the Hårga to do it for her. As such, the ending of Midsommar is also one where Dani essentially loses the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Hence, her smile at the end can also be read as a sign of her having finally lost her sanity.
Whatever way you choose to read it, the film is a chilling examination of a relationship that feels all too real and believable. Dani’s final moments with us are bleak and depressing, suggesting that trauma is something we cannot overcome alone. Aster’s penchant for downer endings rings true in Midsommar as well, yet another testament to his ability to leave the viewer shaken to their core.
Read More: The Strange Thing About Johnsons, Hereditary, and Midsommar: An Analysis of Family Horror in Ari Aster’s Filmography
Midsommar (2019) Movie Trailer
Midsommar (2019) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes
Midsommar (2019) Movie Cast: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren
Midsommar (2019) Movie Genre: Horror | Runtime: 2 Hours 25 Minutes
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