Shot by Shot with the ‘Midsommar’ Trailer

Is it scary? Ummmm...yup.
Midsommar

Dani, under the influence, screams in terror. The villagers around her clasp her terror in their hands and mirror her expression mockingly. Her fear is their joy. Notice that Dani is now dressed in the attire of her captors. One of us, one of us.

A person neals in front of a rune. Their hands drag blood across the surface. Check out the pattern on their back. We’ll see it again in a second. Ulf explains to Dani, “We only do this every 90 years.”

At the bottom of a cliff face, the villagers gather. Some carry mallets. In the background, a guy in a plaid shirt looks around nervously. Should we all just be staring up at the sky like this?

No longer in front of the rune, the bloody-handed person steps to the edge of a cliff. Below we see the mallet man and others waiting for her rapid descent.

Christian can’t comprehend what he’s seeing above, but Dani certainly recognizes the atrocity that’s about to be committed.

Someone smashes Mark on the head, and he goes down for the count. Blood spills from his head. I guess he’s not long for this runtime.

Ok, what’s happening here? Is that Ulf and Mark in the front seat, or two other individuals. Christian doesn’t seem that concerned from his window. Josh has a devilish, maybe possessed grin. This sequence is either part of something more sinister or only designed to feel that way based on its placement in the trailer.


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Brad Gullickson: Brad Gullickson is a Weekly Columnist for Film School Rejects and Senior Curator for One Perfect Shot. When not rambling about movies here, he's rambling about comics as the co-host of Comic Book Couples Counseling. Hunt him down on Twitter: @MouthDork. (He/Him)