Director Ari Aster likes to defy genre conventions, even though his two feature films so far have been labeled as horror. While 2018's Hereditary is a long, dread-filled journey deeply rooted in horror, 2019's Midsommar isn't such a straightforward dive into terror and fright. The film, which follows a group of Americans who travel to Sweden for a once every 90 years midsummer celebration in a small cultish community, proves far more muddled when it comes to genre designations.
At the center of Midsommar is the problematic relationship between Florence Pugh's Dani and Jack Reynor's Christian, which is fueled by the neopagan nightmare unfolding around them. Does this make Midsommar a romantic drama more than a horror film? Or do its folk horror vibes override everything else?
Romantic Drama: Dani's Family Tragedy Sets The Stage
It's obvious from the beginning of the film that Christian wants to dump Dani. When Dani's sister and parents die in a horrific tragedy, Christian stays with his girlfriend out of a sense of obligation.
This is far from a healthy dynamic to maintain. Dani, sensing this, tries to start an open and honest dialogue many times about their relationship, but Christian refuses to engage with her. Instead, this tense situation, made worse by Dani's family tragedy, follows them to Sweden.
Pure Horror: It's Extremely Violent
Romantic dramas don't possess the level of gore and body horror seen in Midsommar. Once in Sweden among the Hårga's close-knit community, Christian and Dani are thrown right into the dark underbelly of ancient rituals when they watch two elders from the commune die by suicide as part of a tradition referred to as an ättestupa.
After audiences experience this, a sense of imminent doom pervades every scene. In true horror fashion, Midsommar truly delivers from there.
Romantic Drama: Dani And Christian's Failing Relationship Is Key
Even with all the terror unfolding around them, Dani and Christian's relationship is still central to how the film's narrative evolves. Christian proves to be the consummate bad boyfriend, even forgetting Dani's birthday when they arrive in Sweden.
It only gets worse from there, as Christian clearly lacks the skills or desire to truly support Dani through her mental health struggles. Instead, Christian bickers or evades whenever Dani tries to have an adult conversation about what's going wrong in their relationship, which creates a stark contrast between these two characters.
Pure Horror: The Kill Scenes Play Out Like A Slasher
Dani and Christian's compatriots in the film, Josh and Mark, are self-obsessed college students played by William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter.
In true slasher fashion, these vapid, insensitive characters get the proverbial ax -- as well as a pair of British tourists who don't appreciate the Hårga's rituals. Their respective kill scenes blur the line between B-movie vibes and artistic horror, but they are still deeply rooted in the slasher tradition.
Romantic Drama: Christian Breaks Dani's Heart
Dani and Christian's inevitable break-up plays out like a Greek tragedy, where a group of Hårga women scream in sync with Dani after she sees Christian participating in a sex ritual with another woman. Even though Christian has been drugged and coerced into having sex, the damage is done.
All of the covert emotional abuse Dani has endured from Christian for years comes crashing down. Dani's pain and heartbreak are made all the more tangible by the ways those in the Hårga community respond to her.
Pure Horror: It's Full Of Nightmarish Hallucination Sequences
Dani struggles with nightmares, visions, and daydreams about her the deaths of her family members. These sequences are deeply disturbing examples of psychological horror, as they cut Dani's tormented psyche wide open for audiences to see.
One of the most terrifying scenes occurs when Dani first arrives in Sweden, where she feels pressured to take psychedelic mushrooms. Under the influence, she experiences a paranoid episode, retreats to a bathroom, and then sees her dead sister in the mirror behind her.
Romantic Drama: Pelle Swoops In To Save Dani From Christian
It's Pelle, a member of the Hårga community studying in America, who invites Dani, Christian, Josh, and Mark to Sweden. By the end of the film, it's clear that Pelle's plan all along was to woo Dani and convince her to become a full-time resident.
Pelle sincerely engages with Dani about her loss, gives her birthday presents, and bestows her with compliments throughout the film. As Dani's fellow travelers are taken out one by one behind her back, Pelle subtly does whatever he can to interject in Dani's toxic relationship with Christian.
Pure Horror: The Cult Rituals Play Into Folk Horror Tropes
Ari Aster definitely takes some creative license with Swedish pagan rituals, but the customs and traditions demonstrated by the Hårga in Midsommar contribute to a long line of folk horror films that nod back to classics like The Wicker Man. However, Aster imbues his folk horror feature with its own unique iconography and imagery.
From tasseled masks and symmetrical meal gatherings to obscure mythologies centered around a sacred runic text, Midsommar is replete with neopagan lore misunderstood or disrespected by outsiders. This contributes to the classic friction that exists in these kinds of films between the practitioners of ancient beliefs and those observing them from the sidelines.
Romantic Drama: Ari Aster Calls It One
Ari Aster himself describes Midsommar as a breakup movie, one he told The Atlantic is "adjacent to horror" instead of fitting snugly into the genre. Aster has been open in interviews about the fact that he wrote the screenplay after dealing with the dissolution of a romantic relationship.
Aster hopes the film will be remembered for more than its gruesome violence. "If Midsommar works beyond my wildest dreams, it would be something you go to after a breakup," he also told The Atlantic.
Pure Horror: Dani Is A Classic Final Girl
Dani is Midsommar's final girl, the only outsider to survive. Not only does she make it, but she's crowned May Queen and decked out in an elaborate flower-filled costume. As it goes with final girls in horror movies, this seems to reflect her depth of character and growth throughout the film.
Dani's narrative both plays into and subverts this often problematic trope. After deciding to sacrifice her cheating ex as part of the midsummer celebration's finale, the film concludes as Dani's frown turns into a smile -- the only one she offers throughout all of Midsommar.