Ari Aster's MIDSOMMAR (2019)

Yeah I was gonna say, she is tripping balls & walked in on her boyfriend fucking a 15yo in front of an audience, kind of an important detail!

cap'n save-a-cult over here

i'd like to go on record in saying the cult is good and we are bad

was kinda hoping for an ending where Neal Howie washes ashore shortly after the sacrifice is completed/evidence discarded, to the Planet of the Apes realization of the audience that it was Summerisle all along

I like the idea of Ari Aster's Dune where everyone is resigned to their fates like, welp, guess I'm gonna be a sandworm now, as was foretold in the orange catholic bible spy who shagged me.

Some good posts in this revive, but I particularly want to highlight this:

the Hårga are bad, deluded, murderous people, and yet....have done more to help assuage Dani's pain than anybody in her life ever did.

I really think this is the crux of the matter. I haven't been traumatised in the same manner as Dani (and have been reasonably fortunate in my choice of partners) but as someone with all the issues I have in my life... a large part of me wanted what I was watching on screen. That isn't a "the cult is good, actually" reading, but a recognition that when you are trapped and unsupported, you can willingly walk towards another danger if it seems to provide you with what you have been missing. The joy of burning your past mistakes and feeling visceral empathy within a community, those things are valid to look at and desire. It's still just another trap, it's still bad, but it's so tempting to give yourself over to it.

Just, like, don't let me ACTUALLY join a cult, please?

I like the idea of Ari Aster's Dune where everyone is resigned to their fates like, welp, guess I'm gonna be a sandworm now, as was foretold in the orange catholic bible spy who shagged me.

― Philip Nunez, Friday, 14 June 2024 bookmarkflaglink

He'd give Dune an interesting look based on this film.

I agree with you emil.y. I’ve long held that the most horrifying scene in the film, the one that is actually shot to terrorize the viewer, is the opening scene, the source of Dani’s trauma. I think this was intentional, not to make The Cult Look Good but to create a greater understanding as to why Dani would be drawn to them, despite their murder vibes