Midsommar

In this episode, I reflect on Midsommar after a client recommended I watch it and the film really gripped me.

Spoiler warning: I talk openly about major scenes in the movie.

What stayed with me most was the tension between modern individual alienation and the seductive pull of collective religious belonging. Midsommar is disturbing because the horror is wrapped in beauty, ritual, shared grief, and the promise of family. Dani’s pain is finally witnessed, but it is also used.

I explore the film through psychoanalysis, cult dynamics, and the post-secular question of whether we can create rituals that hold grief, transition, and longing without violating our freedom or individuation. I also reflect personally on my own suspicion of high-control religion, especially the ways these environments can stunt individuality while calling it belonging.