In MidsummerDani (Florence Pugh) becomes beloved by the Hårga people, eventually being crowned May Queen during the midsummer celebrations – the Swedish occasion at the height of summer. A Maypole is erected and people dress in traditional white folk clothes and dance, eat and drink all day.

Some of the darker traditions in the film include the senicide of two Hårga elders as part of the circle of life in which people live, which is said to come from the mythical practice of Ättestupa, but it is unclear if this is still a tradition in some parts of Sweden . The other particularly disturbing scene comes at the end and is one of the most memorable scenes in recent cinema.

The final scene sees Dani fully indoctrinated into the Hårga lifestyle, clad in the now iconic cape and flower crown, and eager to begin the traditional sacrifice of nine of the communities. One of the nine is Christian, now her ex-boyfriend, who has been paralyzed and stuffed into a bear’s shell – symbolizing various things, including masculinity and ferocity, things the Hårga wish to eliminate.

Christian sits in the canary yellow log cabin, unable to move, along with eight others as he accepts his fate, being lit for the community to watch and pray. The Hårga are seen ritualistically moving and singing and chanting as the hut and its contents go up in flames, and Dani’s signature facial expression slowly turns from sad, reflective and helpless to happy, justified and perhaps slightly menacing.

About this incredibly memorable and carefully constructed scene, Florence Pugh told GQ: “Several scenes before, you could clearly see that he wasn’t there anymore and that he had a psychotic break, and you could clearly see that he was gone. Which made all the decisions that happened in the last ten minutes even more heartbreaking because you knew she wasn’t really making them.”

Adding: “And so the end of the movie, for me, made it easier because I knew she wasn’t there. I actually played it as a kid in many scenes at the end, some of which were cut. I wanted her to be moved by the fire, I wanted her to be moved by the cracks and the flames and the color of the sky, and that was something I was channeling.”

Unsurprisingly, Pugh still thinks a little about Dani and the final scene, just like the rest of us. She continues: “But now that those scenes are gone, it’s quite interesting to see how people will perceive that she was deformed or maybe she made that decision.”

Final scene a Midsummer it leaves us wondering if it was the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do – Christian clearly deserved his punishment, but was this sacrifice the right thing to do? Pugh continues: “So I don’t know if it’s a happy ending. I’ve been thinking about it ever since and… (Long break) In all the other characters I played, I never worried about them afterwards. I always let my characters go. I don’t wear them. Dani is the only one I went back to and I felt really sad and I felt like I let her down. I feel like I left her in that area.”

About that full-circle feeling of this iconic scene, Ari Aster said Vox: “We start when Dani loses a family and end when Dani gains one. And so, for better or for worse, they’re there to provide exactly what he lacks and exactly what he needs, in true fairy tale fashion.”

And that’s how it feels – Dani has found her place. But at what cost? That’s what makes the scene so memorable, the way it haunts you long after the credits roll.

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