Story Map Tapestry

The work that is explored through this digital exhibit is the 2019 folk horror film, Midsommar. This is a movie directed by Ari Aster, who is well-known for his other horror works. The protagonist of this movie is Dani Ardor, a college undergraduate who is in a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, Christian Hughes. Dani lives away from her family, but that becomes irrelevant when her mentally ill sister, Terri Ardor, commits a murder-suicide, taking herself and their parents. Dani is left mourning the loss of everyone she knew and loved, as there is no indication of other friends or family in her life. At the same time, we see her boyfriend, Christian’s perspective. His friends encourage him to break up with her, and he comes close to doing it. He does not love or care for Dani, but is too lazy to do anything about it. While Dani tries her best to keep the relationship afloat, Christian hides things from her, talks about her behind her back, and puts in zero effort. After the loss of her family, Dani relies on Christian to keep her sane. He feels the pressure of that burden and decides not to break up with her until she can take care of herself again. Christian and his friends plan a trip to Sweden to gather inspiration for their theses and Christian end up inviting Dani out of guilt and pity. The village was about to have their midsummer festival which they called Midsommar. His friends, Mark and Josh, were not ecstatic, but Pelle, whose hometown they were visiting, was. Upon their arrival, they are welcomed by members of the small village, Hårga. Dani, at this point, is still unstable and vulnerable, but she tries to hide it so that the group does not despise her. The village includes them in their heavily regulated and gender-based practices and traditions. For example, the women separate Dani from the men and invite her to prepare meals in the kitchen with them. However, they make her feel like she belongs, which fills her void. Just as the group began getting comfortable, the practices became more vulgar. Particularly, the graphic ritual suicides set them offbeat. One by one, each of the travellers disappeared, and it is later revealed that they were each brutally murdered by the members of the cult. The main event of the festival is the May Queen celebration, wherein all the women compete in a dancing competition. The last one standing is crowned May Queen, which was the highest honour. Coincidentally, Dani was the winner. She was crowned May Queen and finally accepted her fate of being a part of this cult. She was emancipated from her toxic boyfriend, as he was burned alive as a human sacrifice, and she finally felt like she had found a family to replace the one she just lost.

The base layer of the embedded Neatline exhibit above is a work of tapestry that the movie opened with. It depicts the five phases of Dani’s story: the death of her family, her grieving their loss, the group’s journey to the village, their entry through the Sunbeam Gate, and finally, the May Queen ceremony. Each of the items showcased throughout this exhibit corresponds to one of the phases and is portrayed through a black dot on the map. The first item is the scene in which Dani’s sister dies. This is significant as it sets off the story and is the reason for Dani joining the cult. The second item is a scene where Dani is mourning. She does this a lot throughout the film, but in this particular scene, she was triggered by the mention of family and was also under the influence of a mysterious drug. The third item is the Elder sacrifice, which was the group’s primary introduction to the cult’s brutality. In this scene, two of the oldest members of the group voluntarily commit suicide for the sake of the collective good. The fourth item is the Sunbeam Gate, which is at the entrance of the village. This gate represents an entry, but not an exit, as anyone who is invited in either joins the cult or dies. The final item is the scene at the end of the movie where Dani is in her May Queen costume and is smiling eerily. At this point, the plague of the cult has infected her, and she has surrendered herself to them.