Early in the process, maybe even before there was a script, me and director Ari Aster talked about ways of addressing certain things. About our opportunity and responsibility to do so. Racism. Refugee crisis and how we deal with that. What happens when societies and countries close the doors on the outside world. The fact that a former neo-nazi party is now the biggest political party in Sweden. Environmental issues. Why a healthy planet and capitalism don’t mix. Mental illness. Everything we found important, back then and later during the five year or so process in the making of Midsommar.
But all of this is bonus because first and foremost we wanted to make a great movie. However, the kool thing was that everything seemed to fit. Whatever impulse we got, it seemed to work in the film.
At one point I realized that when given the opportunity to create something that in best case can be called art it’s our responsibility to make sure not only that the expression is a unique statement, in a way only WE and noone else – this very set of beings – could have executed, but to make sure we give the audience a chance of reflecting on questions you find important.
I come from music. Do-it-yourself-stuff. A place where you could do no wrong. The way I always approached my work with music has been a guiding star for me in mostly everything I do in life. The way you collaborate, discuss, enjoy and search for the perfect method and output, and the way of listen, look and feel at all times to get it right in the end. Trial and error. Redo. Stand up for what you think. I’ve been working in movies for some time now. Enjoyed it a lot. BUT it always used to be just a job. No risktaking. Everyone more or less did what they thought everyone else wanted from them. It was very blurry whose vision we worked with. And the results were of course boring.
So I thought ’’wait a minute, if this movie-making thing is going to remain my occupation and a big part of my life I need to do whatever I can to put some meaning to it’’, and then I met Ari.