The Honeycut: The Breakup Movie Disguised as Cult Horror

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do 

“Midsommar” is a disturbing modern horror classic. It was director Ari Aster’s follow-up to his breakout film “Hereditary.” Horror author S.K. Ehra came on the “Midnight Terrors Podcast” this week and chose to cover “Midsommar.” In researching the film, one of the most interesting things I found was that Aster described it as a breakup movie dressed up in folk horror, and wrote it based on a bad breakup he had. 

It had been a few years since I had seen “Midsommar” and I didn’t really remember the relationship aspect of it. Which, I don’t know what I was watching, because it is basically the backbone of the film. So, does “Midsommar” deserve the status it enjoys, or does it deserve to be dumped? 

The Story 

Dani and Christian are in a crumbling relationship and Christian wants to end it. But when Dani’s sister offs herself and her parents via carbon monoxide poisoning… well, Christian can’t really break up with Dani after that. 

It picks up when Christian takes Dani along with his group of college friends to Sweden, where one of them will be studying a commune’s Midsommar celebration. However, the commune turns out to be a cult and Dani, Christian, and their friends find themselves in grave danger. 

Honey’s Cut 

Yeah, “Midsommar” still holds up. It has long breaks between shocking scenes, which lulls you into a false sense of safety. Add to it that it is always daylight in this picturesque Swedish village and many times, I forgot I was watching a horror film. 

Take, for example, the infamous cliff scene, where two of the village elders leap off a cliff, and plummet down to the ground below, killing themselves in brutal fashion. Before this, there is about an hour of the college friends just hanging around the village learning about the Harga commune. Then bam! An old lady jumps to her death, and her face explodes on a rock. Bet you didn’t see that coming, because I sure didn’t. 

Now let’s talk about that breakup movie deal. Because, yeah, that is at the center of this film. Christian wanted to end things with Dani but didn’t have the guts to. When Dani found out that he and his friends were going to Sweden, she was upset, so he invited her along. Throughout the film, we see their relationship go further and further down the drain. 

Aster did a good job in describing “Midsommar” the way he did. The strained relationship really adds to the movie, instead of it being a bunch of hapless college kids getting murdered by a cult, these characters feel like real people with a lot of emotional baggage. They’re layered. 

Honey’s Final Thought

Breakups are always rough. I’ve never wanted to dump any of my girlfriends. And they never seem to take it very well. We can never just end things on a firm handshake and a “good game.”

“Midsommar” shows us what happens when things are over, but we continue to let it drag on. So, if you’re done with the other person, you should probably just suck it up and tell them. Because you could end up in Scandinavia, being burned alive in a bear suit, or becoming the May Queen of a weirdo cult.