Midsommar: What REALLY Happened To Connie

The theatrical cut of Ari Aster’s Midsommar left Connie’s ultimate fate mostly up to the imagination, but the director’s cut clears up what happened. Like Aster’s prior film, Hereditary, Midsommar isn’t shy about leaving plot elements unexplained, or at least not fully so. Aster’s films thrive on mood and visual style, and if the viewer gets a little lost along the way, that’s not a terrible thing, as it just leaves more to discuss afterward, or reason for a possible second viewing.

There’s certainly a lot to absorb in Midsommar, to the point where countless theories have been written about what Midsommar‘s ending is really supposed to signify, or whether Dani was in fact predestined to become the Harga’s May Queen even before she reached Sweden. Midsommar leaves even the rapturously attentive viewer with things to think about and further consider. As with Hereditary, not every horror fan is going to like Aster’s methodical, slow-building terror and penchant for mental games, but for a certain type of viewer, it’s exactly what they’re looking for.

In the original cut of Midsommar that most saw in theaters, the supporting character of Connie (Ellora Torchia) just kind of disappears from the film partway through. Her body is seen at the end as one of the nine human sacrifices the Harga are making, so it’s clear she died, but not clear how. The director’s cut hints at what happened.

Midsommar: What REALLY Happened To Connie

Neither cut of Midsommar shows Connie’s death onscreen, suggesting that Ari Aster always meant for her demise to have an element of mystery to it. However, the director’s cut makes it pretty clear what happened to her, if one pays attention. An additional scene present in the longer cut shows the Harga preparing to do a different human sacrifice ritual, involving the drowning of a small child called Bror. That is until it’s suddenly decided that Bror’s willingness to be sacrificed is enough, and he shall be spared.

While Bror wasn’t drowned though, it would appear Connie was. The ceremonial chainmail garb that Bror is wearing when preparing to be sacrificed is the same seen being worn by Connie’s corpse near the end of Midsommar. This suggests that while the objects of the Harga’s worship were said to be appeased by Bror’s bravery, a sacrifice was still made in his place, and that Connie was drowned in the river. That’s certainly a terrible way to die, but at least she didn’t get burned alive while sown into a bear skin.

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