Of “midsummer” made Ari Aster one of the most impressive horror films of recent years. The work is very reminiscent of “The Wicker Man” from 1973, because in both films the characters fall into the clutches of a dangerous cult because of their naivety. The director’s second film of “Beau Is Afraid” impresses with its imagery. Despite – or because of! With its consistently bright lighting and bright colors, “Midsommar” is scarier than most horror movies set in the dead of night. The film unfolds its horror mainly from the rituals of the cult and from the psychological mechanisms it appeals to.
One of the film’s most central motifs is family trauma: Dani (Florence Pugh) has lost her parents and sister. The latter suffered badly from her mental illness and as a result killed both her parents and eventually herself. Her boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) is her last resort – but their relationship has already become fragile. As the movie progresses, Dani will close with her old family and gradually meet a new – scary – family. The film accompanies this process with spooky Easter eggs reminiscent of this main motif of the film.
return from the dead
This allows viewers to rediscover Dani’s parents and sister in various scenes. Since psychedelic drugs are an important plot element in the film, it is not surprising that we encounter them at the strangest moments: when Dani is crowned with a garland of flowers, you can see her parents in the audience. This Easter egg is connected to another, a ghostly foreshadowing. At the beginning of the movie, there is a scene where we see Dani’s parents sleeping in bed. On the bedside table is a picture of Dani. And what adorns the picture frame? A wreath of flowers! So it’s not at all random that Aster makes Dani’s parents reappear at her “coronation”.
Terri also appears to her sister during a bath trip in the mirror. However, it resurfaces – as an even better hidden Easter egg. If you hit pause after 109 minutes and 52 seconds, you’ll see it move to complete a ritual. While in the foreground you can see the cult members lining up, with the crowned Dani borne at their head, Terri appears as a very thin, barely visible statue in the background in the trees. On the one hand, this Easter egg is terrifying because of its imagery: who is not afraid of the face of a dead person, which appears quite inconspicuously in the trees? Second, it’s symbolically scary. It shows how Dani’s trauma unknowingly continues.