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Watching Ari Aster's "Midsommar" was
uncomfortable.
It has
troubling moments.
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But there is something else at work--
"- We just took these five minutes ago."
and it changed how I see the movie.
"- Look, the trees too, they're breathing."
It's hidden in plain sight.
And once you see it,
you won't be able to unsee it.
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Welcome to "The Director's Playbook".
♪ Director's Playbook - Intro ♪
This video may have some graphic content.
You've been warned.
Let's begin.
"- We first meet Danny
when she's in a very precarious place
in her relationship with Christian.
Christian and his friends are planning to go to Sweden
to attend a Midsummer celebration
and Danny is pulled along as sort of the unwanted fifth wheel."
In a typical horror movie,
the scariest moments are dark and claustrophobic.
Our anxiety comes from the lurking unknown hidden in the shadows.
Ari Aster threw both of those rules out of the window.
His self-described fairy-tale
is bright.
Lush.
And wide open.
"- It's time for supper."
But just because we can see everything,
doesn't mean to say that we do see everything.
There is a second movie altogether
playing out in the background.
We've seen movies with wide open spaces
and dozens of extras before
but those are just extras
milling around for atmosphere
serving very little storytelling purpose.
But Ari Aster brilliantly activates the background.
He uses it to keep us subconsciously
but constantly unsettled.
The audience, just like the main characters,
are presented with a completely foreign world.
So much is unknown about this village.
And the unknown can be terrifying.
"- Why?"
This perpetual strangeness is most often embodied by behavior.
What are these villagers doing?
Why do they breathe like this?
In this moment, we have two stories playing at once.
Christian's belated birthday apology to Danny.
"- Happy birthday to you."
And the women behind them
seeming to comfort an infant
but we're not quite sure.
We imported the script into StudioBinder to investigate.
We found it here in this scene.
Aster clues us in about the Hårga's strange behavior.
They embrace.
There is a moment where they rest their foreheads together.
Note: throughout the film,
the Hårgas will communicate little things
through subtly modulated expressions and gestures.
These are their affects,
a language known only to them.
As the writer,
Aster confirms that we aren't meant to understand the behavior
which works exceedingly well to create an ambiguous atmosphere.
You'll also notice that a vast majority of the film
is shot in full
and wide shots.
Sometimes framing dozens of people at once.
Let's see how Aster uses a wide open space
with layers of action
to tell multiple stories
in a single shot.
A group of men scatters ashes.
We pull back and pan over to see Mark and Josh
walking past a symbolic ritual
in which a straw goat
is chopped into pieces
while others watch.
It should be noted that in the script
this moment was written in
as a separate scene.
We can only guess why they chose to include this
as a background action instead
but we can see the result.
We dolly and pan around
to see this man inexplicably gesturing.
As Ulf carries the severed straw goat head.
"- Yeah, they say you can do it.
As long as you absolutely don't use any names
or the location is never even hinted at.
- Okay. - And you'll have to sign an agreement to that."
Further back,
a group of people seem to be conducting
a tiny ritual of their own.
"- Well, that's... We'll... We'll figure that out.
- I gotta go take a leak. - All right.
- Uh, here, can I ask you something?"
Now center framed
Ulf is burying the goat head
as Christian appears to speak with him.
Behind them, we see more backwards walking flower pickers.
"- A love rune. Huh. - Yeah."
As Christian walks towards Pella and Josh,
we are greeted with a parade of animals.
"- What's going on?
- Uh, the elders said you can do your thesis
as long as you don't use the actual names or location.
- Are you serious? - Yeah."
Meanwhile,
Mats watches their conversation
and prepares what looks like a powder
with a black mortar and pestle.
"- Breathe in."
Perhaps the same concoction he gives Christian later.
"- For your vitality."
The foreground conversation mentions Maya.
"- Well, I think my sister Maya is taking a liking to you."
And we quickly rack focus,
to reveal her as one of the flower pickers.
"- And actually she just got byxmyndig last year.
- It basically means that you are allowed to have sex."
Then Ulf spots Mark
desecrating their sacred tree
and the shot ends.
"- No no no! What are you doing? Get away from there!"
In this single shot,
we saw a total of 10 background elements.
We aren't meant to be paying attention to any of those elements
but they're there,
working on an almost subconscious level.
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So what are we supposed to learn from Ari Aster?
In so many movies,
the background is just the background.
And extras are just extras.
We've been trained to ignore them.
Aster used that training against us.
He created an idyllic landscape
full of bright light and colors.
But juxtaposes that with disquieting ambiguity.
Creating an unnerving viewing experience, like no other.
The next time you open up StudioBinder shot listing app
give some extra thought to the background.
There are many more easter eggs hidden throughout "Midsommar".
What are your favorite scenes
and what can we learn from them?
Tell us what you found in the comments.
"- I just really need to not be here right now.
- Just take some time yourself, okay."
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