This High My Fire: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Midsommar

After wowing horror audiences with his unsettling breakout hit Hereditary, Ari Aster returned to multiplexes one year later to prove he wasn’t a one-trick pony with Midsommar, a folk horror tale about a group of American students who travel to observe a Swedish cult’s increasingly disturbing traditions. Having made terrifying use of darkness in Hereditary, Aster finds the terror in broad daylight with the bright, sunny settings of Midsommar.

The film also boasted a stellar cast filled with promising young talent, headlined by Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, and enjoyed a fascinating journey to the screen. So, here are 10 fascinating facts from the making of Midsommar.

10 The Original Script Was Even More Gruesome

The initial screenplay for Midsommar was even more gruesome than the final film. For example, Christian originally found the bodies of both Josh and Simon in the chicken coop, not just Simon. Josh would’ve been chained to a fence with his liver hanging out of his body, covered in chickenfeed, being pecked at by the chickens.

There would’ve been a jump scare that revealed he was still alive as he suddenly gasped for air. Instead of having his still-inhaling lungs hanging out of his back, Simon was supposed to be hung from his heels.

9 Ari Aster Based Dani And Christian’s Relationship On One Of His Own

When he was writing Midsommar, Ari Aster had just come off of a bad breakup, so the emotions were still raw. He based a lot of the problems in Dani and Christian’s relationship on those he perceived in his own relationship.

Interestingly, he identifies more with Dani. That might be why she’s not the one who gets burned alive at the end of the movie, and instead makes the decision for Christian to meet that fate. After writing the script, Aster said he felt a lot better about the end of the relationship.

8 The MPAA Originally Rated The Movie NC-17

Ari Aster’s initial cut of Midsommar ran for around three hours and received an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Since this wouldn’t be very marketable (and neither would a three-hour movie), the studio required Aster to make some cuts to get the rating down to an R.

So, the director removed around 30 minutes of footage from the film — footage featuring even more graphic content than the mallet-to-the-head action of the theatrical cut — and added it back in for the home release of the director’s cut.

7 William Jackson Harper Is The Only American Actor In Midsommar

Although all of the main characters visiting Sweden are depicted as Americans, The Good Place star William Jackson Harper is actually the only American actor in Midsommar. Florence Pugh is English, as is Will Poulter, and despite being born in Colorado, Jack Reynor is Irish. Every other actor in the film is either British, Swedish, or Hungarian.

And although the script specifies that Dani and her friends live in New York and her parents and sister live in Minnesota, all the film’s American-set scenes were shot in Utah.

6 The Movie Has A Number Of Famous Fans

Ever since Midsommar hit theaters, a few famous fans have emerged. Ariana Grande tweeted that it was her favorite bedtime movie (although how she doesn’t get the weirdest nightmares after watching it is baffling). Nicolas Cage said that he enjoyed the movie, and compared its cinematography to the work of seminal Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman.

Horror director Jordan Peele said that the movie’s visual style provided “the most atrociously disturbing imagery I’ve ever seen on film.”

5 Dani’s Hallucinations Foreshadow Her Final Decision

Ari Aster’s subtle use of CGI made the hallucinations in Midsommar seem genuinely trippy. Dani has a recurring hallucination of the surrounding plant life growing into her body.

This is used to visually foreshadow her final decision to join the commune. This can be seen in the fact that it becomes more prominent after she is given her flowery crown and the flowers “breathe” with her.

4 Mark’s Phobia Of Ticks Is Based On Ari Aster’s Fear Of Ticks

Mark’s extreme phobia of ticks displayed in Midsommar is based on writer-director Ari Aster’s own phobia of ticks — and, more broadly speaking, his fear of illnesses and bugs that carry them.

On the set, Aster wore two pairs of socks over his jeans in order to prevent bugs from crawling up his legs, just like Mark does in the movie.

3 Despite Being Set In Sweden, Midsommar Was Mostly Shot In Hungary

Despite being set in Sweden, Midsommar was mostly shot in Hungary. This could’ve had something to do with the Swedish film office objecting to the movie’s dangerously inaccurate depiction of their cultural customs.

A lot of the Hårga natives’ Swedish-language dialogue was purposefully left without subtitles in order to keep the audience feeling isolated and on the outside, much like the English-speaking American visitors. The Swedish dialogue was only subtitled if it contributed to the plot. It was subtitled on a need-to-know basis.

2 Midsommar Was Initially Conceived As A Straight Slasher Film

Originally, Midsommar was conceived as a straight slasher film set in a Swedish commune. This initially put off Ari Aster from making the movie as the premise wasn’t complex enough for him to sink his teeth into.

However, he gained some passion for the project when he came up with the idea to fuse the proposed slasher structure with the story of a troubled, failing relationship.

1 It Was Jack Reynor’s Idea For Christian To Be Naked At The End

After the sex ritual, Christian was originally supposed to put his robe back on before running out and finding his friends’ corpses. It was Jack Reynor’s idea for Christian to remain naked as he runs around the commune, because he felt that it would make the character seem more vulnerable.

Having recently seen The Last House on the Left, Reynor noticed that it adhered to a pattern in horror films in which female characters are undressed before being killed, and he thought it would be interesting to flip the script and do that with a male character.

About The Author

Ben Sherlock
(3477 Articles Published)

Ben Sherlock is a writer, comedian, independent filmmaker, and Burt Reynolds enthusiast. He writes lists for Screen Rant and features and reviews for Game Rant. He’s currently in pre-production on his first feature (and has been for a while, because filmmaking is expensive). You can catch him performing standup at odd pubs around the UK that will give him stage time. Previously, he wrote for Taste of Cinema, Comic Book Resources, and BabbleTop.

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