Midsommar's Audiovisual Tricks

There's a reason for every shot, and every sound.
Just take a look at Midsommar's opening.

You find them...by overanalyzing and stretching the hell out of everything. But it's realllly fun, so take it easy and enjoy.

Also, what is NOT a nightmare - my merch:

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Extra Credits:

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Timestamp
0:00 Introduction
1:02 The Insert
2:11 i. Audio
4:50 Gassed
6:08 ii. Visual
8:12 Psychedelics
9:29 Unusual Effects
10:05 Conclusion
10:45 Thank you

#Movie
#Horror
#Midsommar

[katdroidd]

Interestingly, Dani's cries are blended in to the music at the beginning of the film, while Christian's cries at the end are masked by the music. We know this because someone removed the music layer of the end scene to reveal the actors sounds.

[Strega_del_Corvo]

Florence Pugh really should have won an award for her performance. I’ve never seen someone display grief so well.

[ZarrysLux]

*and Florence Pugh's acting is fucking good*

[fatuousinnovatorofsadness]

Dani's trauma is also represented by yellow. You see it become more prominent as the film goes on and even in the opening shot; from the color surrounding her parents and sister to being the thing she puts he boyfriend inside of and burns into pieces, covered in a flower dress that is itself half yellow.

Burning the trauma she hates.

Wearing the trauma she needs.

And it conveys this message to us only through color throughout the film.

[leo_vfx_jpeg]

Terri's gas mask shot is an absolutely terrifying piece of imagery that still haunts me to this day.

[KenzieBenzieee]

The tube in Terri’s mouth felt so aggressive. And taking her parents with her had this possessiveness, it made me so uncomfortable.

[brodypenn]

Terri's corpse and then Dani's crying was some of the most intense and depressing movie scenes ever. The way it was done with the music and cause of death and long shots makes it my favorite scene, but so terrifying.

[Minam]

The gas mask shot still upsets me when I think about it and the face in the trees. That reveal just felt so purely evil in a way that's hard to explain.

[katiejacobson]

little detail i just noticed now: Dani’s last name is ardor stemming from the latin ardere meaning to burn. how cool!

[lorenatorquato]

Dani's/Florence's cry is never, ever leaving my brain. It moved me in a way I cannot describe.

[heysatan]

One of my favorite things about this movie are the psychedelic effects bc of how incredibly accurate they are. As someone who’s done lsd and mushrooms, these effects are the most realistic depiction ive ever seen in film. The undulating mountains and trees, the pulsating flowers... incredible.

[michaelj]

I love Ari Aster's way of directing and every little details he incorporates in every scene specially that bear painting in the beginning while Dani sleeps under it. Midsommar might not be as horrifying as Hereditary but damn it sticks with you after you watch it. Deeply unsettling.

[ckotcher]

Once again Ari uses daytime and brightness 🔆 and proves its more terrifying than darkness because there’s nowhere to hide. And of course he incapsulates grief perfectly. Unlike most movies where someone cries and then you never see them grieve again, Dani’s grief haunts her and the audience the whole movie.

[mischr]

I saw the images she's seeing of her sister as something haunting her. It's fucked up, but my brother died by suicide and even though I never saw him, I would wonder what he looked like. I don't know why I would imagine such a thing, I'm glad I never saw him like that but it doesn't stop my brain from going there...

[cassinipanini]

I didn't notice half of these things like the undulating mountains, WOW

[schrodinger]

The image of Terri’s gas mask feels personally terrifying to me. I’ve never lost someone to suicide, but have struggled with it myself. I can usually handle cliche depictions of suicide (hangings, shootings), but this just felt so real. It was like looking at your own corpse. Had to turn off the movie and come back to it later.

[Savvy_Everything]

I just realised the yellow burning triangular house looks like terris mask ... and the smoke comes out the door, where the pipe would be

[pearhouse]

I experienced several back-to-back traumas right before seeing this movie in the theater with close friends (they thought I should get out of the house etc).
Maybe it was the timing, but I found this movie weirdly and deeply comforting.
I tried to watch it again recently, and only then did I actually start to get a sense of any discomfort. I was confused - I didn't remember the movie being this unsettling.

The world just flows differently when you're grieving. There's a disconnect. When you're in it, Dani is a comforting lens of solidarity. When you're out of it or were never in it at all, Dani is a constant reminder of deep discomfort that we either find unfamiliar or all too familiar.

The fact that the film works so succinctly and objectively with the concept of grief is a marvel of its own.
The arguments you brought up about how the sound design and visuals work in tandem with the portrayed emotions of Dani is something I never noticed before, and probably one of the most prominent roots of the visceral success of this film.
Thank you for your analysis!

[abigaileldritch]

This movie is exactly what it feels like when you live with trauma. It lingers in every single nook and cranny in your brain.

[rotroom]

I never noticed her sisters face in the trees before that shit is terrifying