Midsommar - MOVIE REACTION 

At 39:07 - You said that you were clued in to the fact that it was going to get weird when the elders jumped off the cliff. I was clued into the fact that it was going to get weird when the matron who was running the show screamed in Swedish, "Spirits back to the dead!" I didn't know what to expect, but it was going to get nuts in some fashion.

Another great "feels like you're tripping the whole time" movie (or so it seems like) is Mandy, with Nic Cage.

At 42:59 - You don't think they are friendly to all kinds of people. You might have missed the sign on their way in to Helsingland, because it was upside down and in Swedish. But besides welcoming the party to Helsingland, it mentioned "Stop the mass immigration." Also... They were not kind to people of dark skin. It was clear that Josh was well-studied and working on his PhD thesis on midsummer cultures and rituals... Christian was given the green light (which was moot, because they were never going to leave, but it was the emotion of the thing). Christian was given the okay before Josh, when it was clear that Christian just picked his theme right after the Attestupa (the ritual suicide of the elders). Connie and Simon were messed around with. It wasn't kind.

At 45:09 - re: Dani's smile at the end... While it looks like a happy smile, it really isn't. She's been emotionally hit over and over. It was clear that, six months after her family's deaths, Dani still wasn't doing well, which we saw over and over again every time "family" was mentioned, and her nightmares. And then the suicide of the elders, where she completely zoned out, hit her again like her sister's suicide. The nightmares happened, Pelle confused her feelings, as she was on the verge but never broke up with Christian, but seeing Christian having sex with Maya pushed her over a different edge. (The fact that it was in no way consensual, as he was far too high to consent to anything, doesn't change that she saw what she saw.) And now... It was clear that everyone who was left in Dani's world from grad school back home was dead, and that she chose Christian... And the happy people celebrating their deaths... Dani is broken, and in grave danger. She may not know or care, but that smile is terrifying because she has nothing left to tie her to reality.

I think you'll love the rest of Ari's catalog. You also mentioned The Lighthouse. That's by Robbert Eggers and it is IMO his best film.

Definitely watch hereditary if you haven’t seen it! Keep doing dope things!

There are a lot of ways to interpret this film. I'll do my best to describe them, but I'm sure I'll butcher them, and I recommend watching interviews with Ari Aster on them if you want to hear them in his own words. 1) An allegory for a breakup - the film is often referred to by Ari Aster as his breakup movie. Dani and Christian are trapped in a relationship that they both hate and looking for ways out; 2) the cult is real, the gods are real, and all events are predestined - this is alluded to via the imagery at the beginning of the film; 3) Pelle orchestrated the events of the film to win Dani - he specifically chose this group of outsiders with the specific intention of having everyone die except for Dani because he loved her - as Pelle mentioned to Josh in the car ride to the community, black people were not considered pure enough for their community and would not be a candidate for breeding, Mark was a known fuck-up and fit the stereotype of the Fool, Christian was set up to be caught in the act by Dani though while she thought he was cheating on her, he was actually being raped since he was drugged and unaware of his actions, the fellow cult member intentionally fell during the dance with Dani to ensure that she would be crowned; 4) the cult only killed people who broke their strict rules - this may have just been pure coincidence but everyone except for Christian that was killed all either broke a rule or committed some offence directly prior to being killed. As a proponent of assisted suicide, I did like the commentary on the topic and how in the west, we stick our elderly in nursing homes and leave them to die slowly.

I love this film. It knocked The Wicker Man off its pedestal IMO for the genre.

This movie was pretty divisive when it came out, all of Ari asters work has been pretty polarizing but I love his shit. Man’s got some trauma I think all of his movies deal with family issues. This one more a relationship movie but the suicides at the beginning were an insanely dark way to set this movie up.

Have you seen Upgrade? That’s one of the best movies to come out in recent years. Very fun, if a little dark, scifi/action movie.

Mother is another “fun” movie, Being John Malkovich is also a flick you might enjoy that doesn’t get enough reactions IMO.

COMMENT WHAT OTHER MOVIES YOU'D WANT ME TO REACT TO!!

Ambulance The Northman Scott pilgrim vs the world Baby driver All films I love that you may or may not have seen

I would also recommend jacobs ladder and requiem for a dream if you want to just not feel ok. Or Ari asters short film, a strange thing about the Johnson’s. All quite disturbing

All the guys hate Dani but she's easily the best person and the only genuinely good person out of all of the them. Even her 'choice' to put Christian into the burning building are literally her burning the toxicity out of her life, thus her finally being free and happy culminating with that last shot of her smiling. That's just my interpretation.