However, whether you sip or shoot it, the snaps has its effect. The time is 9 pm, but you would never know it based on the blue sky above. If Al Pacino and Stellan Skarsgård couldn’t handle this phenomenon in their respective Insomnias, then these kids certainly don’t have a chance. Although, Sweden is not as severe as it can be in Barrow, Alaska, or the Norwegian Arctic. The sun usually sets around 10 pm and rises at 3:40 am. Five and a half hours of darkness? That’s plenty of time to slumber.
Christian explains to another visiting couple that he and Dani have been together for three and a half years. Dani corrects him, “Four years.” He questions, “Really?” Time flies when you’re miserable, I guess.
Inside one of the bunkhouses, the group gazes upon several midsummer illustrations that decorate the walls. We see a group of girls dancing around a maypole. On the left and right of the image are various depictions of copulation. Ulf asks, “What do you think?” Christian answers, “It’s like another world.”
Three circles of women dance around the maypole. A band of drummers and violinists keep the beat. Siv observes from a distance. Covered in greenery, the maypole is designed to bring good fortune and health to people as well as livestock. Also, staggering virility.
Ulf excitedly exhales, “Tomorrow is the big day.” Such enthusiasm causes concern for Dani. “Is it scary?” she asks. She and we know the answer. Most definitely. Run. Politeness and curiosity suppress her natural instincts. What horrors await the bros might not be the same for her. Ulf seems to suggest that Dani has a special role in this ritual.
A woman hands Christian a drink that is most definitely not snaps. “What is it?” he asks. Her response, “It has special properties.” He gives the glass a concerned look, but Ulf’s peer pressure will get that gulp down his gullet just as it brought him to the festival in the first place.
Around the lunch table, we see the world around Mark drift out of focus. His attachment to reality crumbles.
In a mirror, Dani observes the gash above her eye and spots a specter sidling behind her. As soon as it appears it disappears. “What am I going through?” An end? A beginning? Both.
