Midsommar: How Old Dani Is In The Movie

Dani Ardor in Ari Aster’s 2019 folk horror movie Midsommar was always destined to become the May Queen, which may be a result of her age. When Pelle tells her their plans, she explains to him that the Harga’s mid-summer festival takes place during her birthday.

During 2020, folk horror has become one of the most popular sub-genres in horror. Undoubtedly, Aster’s film attributed to its rise with breathtaking cinematography, a complex plot that garnered immense popularity, and impressive performances by Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor. Part of Midsommar‘s rise to becoming a pop culture phenomenon has revolved around Aster’s sharp storytelling, which bookends the movie between the day-soaked horrors Dani and her friends experience with the Harga cultists in a remote Swedish village and elements of a cathartic break-up movie and coming-of-age tale. Because audiences can relate to the characters in Midsommar—particularly Pugh’s Dani—it’s interesting to note that her age is left vague, despite her birthday being a point of celebration in the film.

Dani has become one of the most iconic women in the horror genre. Pop singer Ariana Grande even dressed as the May Queen for her 2020 birthday celebrations. With such an expansive fan base composed of an array of people from various backgrounds, many fans question how old Dani is and how is it important to the story. While both she and the movie do not reveal how old she’ll be turning on her birthday, the film uses several clues to allude to her real age. Dani’s age is an interesting question given the range of trauma and loss she suffers during the events of Midsommar. Not only does she lose her family, but she’s obviously struggling in a rocky relationship. These types of situations will be typically be experienced uniquely for individuals at different stages of their life.

When the audience first meets Dani, it is revealed that she and her boyfriend are graduate students. Presumably, this fact could alone could mean that her age ranges from her early-twenties and beyond, as graduate students can be any age, but when she becomes the Harga’s May Queen, her real age becomes more apparent. After Pelle first expresses his excitement for her to join them in Sweden, it sets up a popular theory that she was always meant to become the May Queen and a Harga member. According to this theory, Pelle fulfilled his role in the cult by going to the United States to find her.

Pelle is the first person to show Dani the previous May Queens, who all appear to be around the same age as she is. It is her age and need for community that makes her the ideal candidate. The fact that her birthday occurs during the time frame of the festival symbolizes that her birth also occurred at this sacred time for the Harga cultists. Furthermore, it is suggested that she is also in the mid-summer of her life, which is typically considered to be a person’s mid-twenties. All of these factors combined mean that Dani Ardor is most likely between the ages of 24 to 26.

In Midsommar, Dani is in the midst of formulating her graduate thesis, celebrating her birthday during the mid-summer of her life, and travels to the Harga festival in Sweden. All of which could occur during the ages of 24-26. It is likely that she is just entering her mid-twenties due to her rise as May Queen, which could also stand as a symbol of a young woman entering this “mid-summer” of her life.

About The Author