Ari Aster’s Midsommar, released in 2019, is a genuinely unsettling film that weaponizes Swedish midsummer traditions to create horror. The film is visually beautiful—shot in daylight, with bright colors and clear cinematography unusual for horror films. Yet despite (or because of) this beauty, it’s deeply disturbing. The horror in Midsommar doesn’t come from jump scares or gore, but from the slow revelation that the beautiful traditions and rituals being depicted are harboring something profoundly sinister.

The film’s brilliance lies in its weaponization of authenticity. Aster researched actual Swedish midsummer traditions extensively and incorporated real elements into the film’s depiction of the fictional Hälsingland cult’s midsummer celebration. By grounding the fictional horror in actual cultural practices, the film creates cognitive dissonance—viewers recognize real Swedish traditions but see them depicted in disturbing contexts, making them question what they thought they understood about midsummer and Swedish culture.

Midsummer in Sweden: Actual Traditions

Before discussing the film, it’s important to understand what actual Swedish midsummer is like, both to appreciate Aster’s innovation in horror and to understand what he’s actually depicting versus what’s purely fictional.

Midsummer in Sweden is a major celebration tied to the summer solstice (around June 21-22). In Sweden’s northern regions, this is when the sun barely sets at all—there are 24 hours of daylight in some locations. The festival has ancient roots, predating Christianity, and relates to the life cycles of agriculture, livestock, and fertility.

Traditional midsummer celebrations include raising a maypole (called a midsummer pole, or midsommarstång), decorating it with flowers and leaves, and dancing around it while singing. People wear traditional clothing, particularly traditional bunad dresses (highly decorated folk costumes), and flowers in their hair. The celebration emphasizes nature, community, fertility, and the turning of the seasons.

Modern Swedish midsummer is primarily a family and community celebration. People gather for meals featuring traditional foods: herring, boiled new potatoes, strawberries, and other seasonal delicacies. There’s music, dancing, and time outdoors celebrating the endless daylight. It’s genuinely joyful and festive—the opposite of what Midsommar depicts.

However, midsummer also has a darker historical context. Some older traditions involved rituals meant to promote fertility or ward off evil. Some traditions involved wild behavior, heavy alcohol consumption, and occasional violence. Historical midsummer celebrations weren’t always orderly—there’s always been an undercurrent of transgression and wildness beneath the surface celebration.

The Film and Its Horrors

Midsommar exploits this undercurrent. The film begins with an American college student, Dani (Florence Pugh), and her friends joining a trip to a Swedish village to celebrate midsummer. The village, depicted as a cult-like community, performs elaborate rituals that gradually reveal themselves to be disturbing and deeply dangerous.

The film’s horror is visceral and disturbing—it depicts ritual suicide, murder, sexual coercion, and exploitation. Yet the visual presentation is beautiful: bright daylight, colorful flowers, traditional costumes, and aesthetically compelling cinematography. The contradiction between the beauty of the image and the horror of what’s depicted creates profound unease.

Aster’s genius is in using actual midsummer elements and presenting them in ways that are genuinely horrifying. The maypole dancing becomes sinister. The crowning of a queen becomes a selection ritual with terrible implications. The traditional costumes become cult attire. The isolation of the village—which in reality simply reflects geography—becomes imprisonment. Nothing in the film is entirely fictional, yet the accumulation of actual traditions presented in disturbing context creates something horrifying.

Where the Film Was Actually Shot

Interestingly, Midsommar was not primarily shot in Sweden, despite its Swedish setting. The film was shot mostly in Hungary, with some additional shooting in Sweden for establishing shots and specific locations. The decision to shoot in Hungary was primarily practical—it allowed Aster and his team better control over filming conditions and lower production costs than shooting in Sweden proper would have allowed.

However, the film’s aesthetic is thoroughly Swedish. The production design, costumes, and set decoration recreate Swedish locations and traditions with meticulous attention to detail. The Hälsingland region, where the film is ostensibly set, is a real region in northern Sweden known for its distinctive architecture and folk traditions. While the actual filming happened elsewhere, the film’s visual language is authentically rooted in Swedish geography and culture.

Real Midsummer in Hälsingland and Sweden

For those interested in experiencing actual Swedish midsummer—without the horror and murder—multiple locations across Sweden celebrate the festival. The Hälsingland region, where Midsommar is set, celebrates authentic midsummer in various villages. These celebrations involve actual midsummer poles, traditional music and dancing, traditional food, and genuine community celebration.

Rättvik

Rättvik, in central Sweden’s Dalarna region, is famous for its midsummer celebration. The town celebrates on Midsummer Eve and Midsummer Day with traditional festivities including maypole raising, traditional music, dancing, and food. The celebration is genuine community gathering rather than touristy performance, though outsiders are welcome. The event draws thousands of Swedes celebrating their heritage.

Sälen

Sälen, in Dalarna, also hosts significant midsummer celebrations. Like Rättvik, it features authentic traditions rather than performances staged for tourists. The surrounding landscape—mountains and forests—is beautiful, and celebrating midsummer in this setting gives you understanding of why the festival is tied to the natural world and the cycle of seasons.

Falun and the Dalarna Region Generally

The entire Dalarna region is known for strong folk traditions. Various towns throughout the region celebrate midsummer with authenticity and enthusiasm. The region is worth exploring for its own aesthetic interest—the distinctive red wooden houses, traditional crafts, and strong connection to folk culture are genuine and have nothing to do with the horror of Aster’s film.

Visiting During Actual Midsummer

If you want to experience authentic Swedish midsummer, the celebration happens around June 21-22. Planning a trip to Sweden during this period means you’ll experience the endless daylight that characterizes midsummer in the north, and you can participate in or observe genuine celebrations.

The weather during midsummer is typically pleasant—not too hot, with clear skies and endless daylight. Hotels and accommodations book up during midsummer as Swedes travel to celebrate with family or in popular destinations, so advance booking is essential.

For tourists, experiencing midsummer in Sweden provides genuine cultural insight. You see how important the festival is to Swedish identity, you understand the connection between natural cycles and cultural celebration, and you experience the joy rather than the horror that characterizes the actual festival.

The Hälsingland Region Beyond Midsommar

The Hälsingland region, where Midsommar is set, is worth exploring for its own merits. The region is known for:

Distinctive Architecture: Hälsingland has preserved traditional wooden houses with distinctive designs. These houses are often decorated with elaborate folk art designs (called kurbits painting) featuring flowers and curved patterns. Several preserved homesteads offer tours and demonstration of traditional crafts.

Folk Traditions: Hälsingland maintains strong folk traditions including music, dance, and traditional celebrations. Multiple museums dedicated to folk culture and traditional life exist throughout the region.

Natural Landscape: The region features forests, mountains, and rural landscapes. While less dramatic than Norway or the Alps, it’s genuinely beautiful and provides the setting that Midsommar uses for horror.

Järvsö and Traditional Culture: The village of Järvsö, in Hälsingland, is the setting for the Världens Ändar (World’s End) festival celebrating folk culture. Various museums and cultural institutions throughout the region preserve and present traditional Swedish culture.

How Aster Researched and Used Actual Traditions

Ari Aster conducted extensive research into Swedish folklore, midsummer traditions, and folk beliefs. He worked with Swedish consultants and researchers to ensure authenticity in details. The maypole design, the flower crowns, the traditional costumes, the folk songs (which are actual Swedish folk songs, not compositions for the film), and various rituals depicted are all rooted in actual Swedish traditions.

This commitment to authenticity is crucial to the film’s power. Because viewers recognize actual traditions, they experience cognitive dissonance seeing them depicted in horrifying contexts. Someone familiar with real midsummer celebrations watching Midsommar experiences something genuinely disturbing: beloved traditions rendered sinister.

The film is, in this sense, a profound act of violence against Swedish culture—not intentionally, but the effect is real. Viewers familiar only with the film may have a distorted understanding of midsummer, associating it with horror rather than joy. Yet the film also demonstrates deep respect for Swedish traditions even while weaponizing them—Aster clearly researched thoroughly and understood what he was depicting.

Practical Information for Visiting

The Hälsingland region is accessible from Stockholm by train or car (approximately 3-4 hours north). The region is rural and has limited public transportation between villages, so having a car is useful for exploring thoroughly.

Summer is the ideal time to visit, when weather is pleasant and daylight is extensive. Midsummer specifically (late June) offers the full cultural experience but requires advance booking. Outside of midsummer season, the region is less crowded and offers peaceful exploration of landscape, architecture, and museums.

Accommodation ranges from small hotels to traditional guesthouses to vacation rentals. Towns like Söderhamn and Ljusdal serve as bases for exploring the region.

Conclusion

Midsommar is a genuinely brilliant horror film precisely because it takes authentic Swedish traditions seriously and uses authenticity as a source of horror. The film respects its source material—actual Swedish culture and folklore—even while weaponizing it. Visiting the actual regions where midsummer is celebrated, experiencing the genuine joy and community of the festival, and understanding the traditions Aster depicted provides a valuable counterpoint to the film’s vision.

Sweden’s midsummer remains one of Europe’s most distinctive and meaningful cultural celebrations. Experiencing it—genuinely, without the horror—offers insight into Swedish identity and connection to nature and community. And having watched Midsommar, experiencing actual Swedish midsummer is an even richer experience because you understand what Aster was working with and how he transformed joy into dread.