Florence Pugh is getting vulnerable and opening up about the emotional impact of filming Midsommar, saying, “It really fucked me up.”
The Oscar-nominated actress shared during a recent interview on The Louis Theroux Podcast that playing Dani in the Ari Aster-directed film led to six months of depression. After a devastating family tragedy, her character joins her toxic boyfriend on a trip to a remote Swedish commune, where she ends up having a psychological breakdown after being the target of a cult’s manipulation.
“I just can’t exhaust myself like that because it has a knock-on effect,” she admitted. “I think [Midsommar] made me sad for like six months after and I didn’t know why I was depressed. I got back after shooting Little Women, which was such a fun experience and obviously a completely different tone from Midsommar, so I think shelved all of that. And then when I got home for Christmas, I was so depressed and I was like, ‘Oh, I think that’s from Midsommar,‘ and I didn’t deal with it and I probably shouldn’t do that again.”
Pugh said she “had never seen that level of grief or mental health in the way that was being asked of me on the page,” which led her to go all in on the role to fully understand the “horrible state” of Dani’s life.
“I really put myself through it,” she explained. “At the beginning, I just imagined hearing the news that one of my siblings had died, and then towards the middle of the shoot it was like, ‘Oh no, I actually needed to imagine the coffins.’ And then towards the end of the shoot, I actually was going to my whole family’s funeral.”
“It wasn’t just crying. I needed to sound pained,” the Thunderbolts star continued. “I’d never done anything like that before and I was like, ‘OK, well here’s my opportunity. I need to give this a go.’ And I would just basically put myself through hell. But I don’t do that anymore. It really fucked me up.”
Pugh said she initially realized how much playing a distraught character impacted her while on a flight, heading to film Greta Gerwig’s Little Women after wrapping Midsommar. She recalled breaking down in tears because she felt like she had left Dani “in that field with the film crew just filming her cry.”
“My brain was obviously feeling sympathy for myself because I’d abused myself and really manipulated my own emotions to get a performance, but I also then felt sorry for what I’d done,” the We Live in Time actress admitted. “It was very, very strange.”
A24 and IMAX unite to screen an extended but of ‘Midsommar’
Psychological-horror thrillers will put you on the edge of your seat in regular movie theaters, so just imagine those creepy-crawlies on IMAX! A24 and IMAX team up to bring a director’s cut of Midsommar to theaters for the first time, bigger than before — expect the IMAX format to deliver all the frights on a gargantuan scale.
Starring Florence Pugh, this movie tells the eerie story of an American couple who visit a rural region of Sweden for what they thought would be a traditional midsummer festival — but is so much gruesomely more. The film “simmers with dread, an unnerving spellbinder that dodges the usual terror tropes to plumb the violence of the mind,” raved Peter Travers in Rolling Stone.
The director’s cut promises an extra 24 minutes of footage, and in case you didn’t immediately notice, the screening date is — yes — Summer Solstice.
Thursday, June 20, IMAX theaters, imax.com, $18.21-$21.40.
Whether you’re looking for a little Valentine’s Day counterprogramming or getting over a nasty breakup, these horror movies—about bad romance, toxic relationships, and monstrous partners—will do the trick.
Although the two genres have long been intertwined (e.g., Gothic horror), people typically don’t think of horror and romance as bedfellows. The language of horror is an effective means of communicating our deepest fears, and love is often terrifying, inspiring us to reflect on our own shortcomings and confront anxieties—about our worth, our place in the world, and the future. Also, love can be messy and fucking gross.
While the genre has plenty of great couplings, the horror movies below are decidedly unromantic and not recommended if you’re looking for a reason to stay attached.
Midsommar (2019)
(A24)
Of course Midsommar made the list. Ari Aster’s second film does for relationships what Hereditary did for families. Florence Pugh stars as Dani, a woman reeling from a recent family tragedy and trying to find solace in her total shithead of a boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor). When she learns that Christian and his pseudo-intellectual college bros are taking a vacay to a remote part of Sweden to study the local culture, Dani invites herself along. What the men find in Sweden is a cult steeped in disturbing rituals; what Dani finds is catharsis and community. And if you’ve been through a particularly crummy breakup recently, the ending of Midsommar will feel really satisfying.
Possession (1981)
(Gaumont)
When it was first released in 1981, Possession was banned in the U.K. and labeled as one of the “video nasties”—low budget horror movies with violent content deemed immoral by conservative group. In the decades since, Possession has become a cult favorite and the original cut is easier to see than ever before. Directed by Polish filmmaker Andrzej Żuławski, who wrote the script in the midst of a contentious divorce, Possession stars Sam Neill as Mark, a spy who returns from a work trip to discover that his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) is having an affair and has decided to end their marriage. All of this happens in the first few minutes. What follows is a harrowing odyssey through Berlin as Mark tries to figure out why his wife is so determined to end things, and who—or what—has suddenly possessed her.
The Fly (1986)
(20th Century Studios)
Though it shares a title and basic plot elements The Fly is very different from the Vincent Price classic. One of David Cronenberg’s more overt works of body horror, The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, a brilliant scientist who develops a teleportation device. Seth becomes romantically involved with Ronnie (Geena Davis), the journalist he’s invited to write about his new invention. During a test run, Seth unwittingly shuts himself in the device with a housefly and soon undergoes a series of increasingly disturbing physical and psychological changes. Some view The Fly as an allegory for the AIDS crisis of the ’80s, but I think it’s a deeply affecting story about a woman realizing she’s in an abusive relationship and fighting desperately to save the man she loves from himself.
mother! (2017)
(Paramount Pictures)
There was quite a bit of discourse around the release of mother!, Darren Aronofsky’s 2017 thriller starring then-girlfriend Jennifer Lawrence as a woman who keeps busy renovating the idyllic rural home she shares with her husband, a writer played by Javier Bardem. Paradise is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious stranger, who soon invites his wife and children to join them. As more uninvited guests arrive, the writer welcomes them with open arms while becoming increasingly hostile toward his wife. Is it a movie about God (Bardem) and Earth (Lawrence) and the fundamental forsaking of the latter for (and by) the former? Is it an eco-thriller about climate change? Is it Aronofsky’s self-aware, brazen indictment of himself in relationships? (The opening shot, which features an actress who looks a lot like Aronofsky’s ex, Rachel Weisz, doesn’t exactly invalidate this notion.)
mother! is all of the above, really, and it’s also a great, anxiety-inducing movie about being in a relationship with an absolute narcissist.
The Invitation (2015)
(Drafthouse Films)
Everyone has at least a little baggage from previous relationships, but in The Invitation, Will (Logan Marshall-Green) has more than most. Years after a tragedy that contributed to the dissolution of his marriage, Will takes his new partner Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michiel Huisman) in Will’s old home. As the evening gets underway, Will starts to believe his ex-wife and her new beau have ulterior motives—or is he simply unable to let go of the past? Directed by Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body), The Invitation is a riveting thriller and a cautionary tale about staying touch with your ex.
Trouble Every Day (2001)
(Lot 47 Films)
Up front: This movie stars Vincent Gallo, a man with a history of behaving like a misogynist garbage person and supporting conservative politicians, so if you need to avoid that kind of ick, I get it. THAT SAID, French filmmaker Claire Denis makes excellent use of Gallo’s sleaziness in the 2001 horror film Trouble Every Day. Gallo plays a scientist who spends his honeymoon with his new wife (Tricia Vessey) in Paris searching for an old friend—a neuroscientist whose controversial research has been discredited—and finds him living with his wife (Béatrice Dalle), who he keeps locked up to prevent her from having sex with and violently murdering men.
There are cannibalistic elements to Trouble Every Day that are so visceral—I’m thinking of one scene in particular near the end involving Gallo’s character—that they’re difficult to watch. Denis is a masterful filmmaker and Trouble Every Day is a compelling existential thriller that stands apart from the extremism that defined French horror in the early 2000s.
Crimson Peak (2015)
(Universal Pictures)
If you enjoy period melodramas, Crimson Peak will check a few boxes. Guillermo del Toro’s beautiful Gothic horror film stars Mia Wasikowska as Edith, a young woman who joins her handsome new husband Thomas (Tom Hiddleston) at the victorian estate he shares with his sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain). As she adjusts to her new life, Edith is plagued by visions of ghosts that might be related to the dark secrets Lucille and Thomas share.
Antichrist (2009)
(IFC Films)
A cabin in the woods is one of the worst places you can go in a horror movie, but Antichrist takes it a step (or 12) further with a cerebral and terrifying expedition through a marriage wracked by unspeakable grief. Following a horrible tragedy, a psychiatrist (Willem Dafoe) takes his distraught wife—whose depression is becoming increasingly volatile—to a remote cabin to heal. Instead, they end up contemplating the nature of evil and internalized misogyny. Directed by Lars von Trier (another man with a history of garbage behavior), Antichrist is filled with totemic imagery and psychoanalytic concepts: animals that talk, the conflation of sex and violence, and the exploration of gendered expression and dynamics. Dafoe and Gainsbourg’s characters are credited as “He” and “She,” evoking a near-mythical or Biblical sensibility.
Audition (1999)
(Vitagraph Films)
Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) is a lonely widower looking for a companion. With the help of his friend, a producer, Aoyama holds auditions for a fake movie as a way to meet prospective partners. And it works: Aoyama falls for the intriguing Asami (Eihi Shiina) and the pair begin a romantic relationship. Unfortunately for Aoyama, Asami’s demure demeanor is hiding a darker side that comes to the surface when she discovers how she and Aoyama really met. Directed by prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, Audition became a cult favorite in the early 2000s, renowned for its exceptionally violent climax.
The Brood (1979)
(New World Pictures)
Similar to Andrzej Żuławski with Possession, David Cronenberg wrote The Brood while going through a rough divorce. Released in 1979, the film centers on Nola (Samantha Eggar), a mentally ill woman fighting her soon-to-be ex-husband Frank (Art Hindle) over custody of their daughter. While Nola receives experimental therapy from a radical psychotherapist (the great Oliver Reed), a series of murders near the remote mental institution and strange visits with her daughter lead Frank to investigate the doctor and his unusual methods.
Despite its similar conception, The Brood has more in common with Antichrist and The Fly than Possession. Without spoiling anything, there’s a great, gory climactic reveal—which also makes it a fun watch on Mother’s Day.
The Shining (1980)
(Warner Bros.)
One of the most iconic horror films of all time hardly needs an introduction, but just in case: The Shining follows writer Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) as he accepts the position of caretaker at a Colorado hotel over the winter season. Jack brings his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their troubled young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) to stay with him, hoping the getaway will clear up his writer’s block. Jack’s demons are prodded by the terrifying ghosts haunting the halls of the hotel, loosening the weak grasp Jack has on his deep-seated anger.
Stanley Kubrick’s (loose) adaptation of Stephen King’s classic novel has been criticized for depicting Wendy as mousy and not very bright, but Duvall (and the longest cigarette ash of all time) gives one hell of a performance as a woman in an abusive marriage trying to save her son from his violent father.
The Invisible Man (2020)
(Universal Pictures)
Leigh Whannell took one of Universal’s oft-overlooked classic monsters and gave him an unforgettable update in 2020’s The Invisible Man. The movie opens with an impressively suspenseful sequence in which Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) executes a long-planned escape from her abusive husband, a brilliant tech billionaire named Adrian (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), in the middle of the night. When Adrian is declared dead of an apparent suicide and leaves everything to Cecilia, she is understandably skeptical—there’s no way her violent and narcissistic husband suddenly grew a conscience before mercifully dropping dead. Over the following weeks, an invisible assailant stalks and attacks Cecilia, who suspects that Adrian is using the advanced cloaking tech he developed to continue terrorizing her. And no one believes her.
With a cerebral plot that evokes Gaslight and (unfortunately) timeless themes concerning violent misogyny and abuse—not to mention a killer Elisabeth Moss performance—The Invisible Man is easily one of the best horror thrillers released in recent years.
(featured image: Warner Bros. / Drafthouse Films / Gaumont / A24 / Illustration by Britt Hayes)
Britt Hayes (she/her) is an editor, writer, and recovering film critic with over a decade of experience. She has written for The A.V. Club, Birth.Movies.Death, and The Austin Chronicle, and is the former associate editor for ScreenCrush. Britt’s work has also been published in Fangoria, TV Guide, and SXSWorld Magazine. She loves film, horror, exhaustively analyzing a theme, and casually dissociating. Her brain is a cursed tomb of pop culture knowledge.
I don’t know about you, but I’m still obsessed with Florence Pugh in Midsommar. If you’re also a May Queen girlie, get ready to spend your money on A24’s new collection based on the Ari Aster film. Trust me, you’ll want to own all this new merch.
Midsommar took us on a journey with Dani (Pugh), who is struggling to come to terms with an immense loss. Her grief is fueled by boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor), who sees her more as a burden than a woman he loves when Dani joins him and his guy friends on a trip to rural Sweden. Throughout the movie, we see Dani come into her own as woman as a series of upsetting incidents unfold around them. Midsommar is described as follows: “A couple travel to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown for its fabled midsummer festival, but what begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.”
The new merch is perfect for those who can’t stop thinking about the Ari Aster film and Dani’s journey.
(A24)
The collection includes the “The film’s long-awaited Screenplay Book – the tenth in their beloved series ($60)” as well as a “special decorative Hårga patch” that is $10. The shop also restocked the May Queen embroidered logo tee, which sells for $40, as well as the Midsommar incense temple, which costs $45.
(A24)
The screenplay book has become a staple for fans of A24, and this one takes fans on a journey through the creation of Midsommar, including the screenplay as well as images from the film.
(A24)
This new merch push comes after the film was re-released in October and as fans continue to share their love for Pugh’s Dani.
Do it for Dani
(A24)
Out of the catalog of A24 horror films and even just Ari Aster’s filmography, there is something about Midsommar that has stood the test of time. Released in 2019, it took the world by storm with fans dressing like Dani for Halloween and many continuing to praise it as one of Pugh’s best roles, rightfully so.
Dani means a lot to people, myself included. She’s a woman who is struggling, lost in her own grief, and she is alone despite having “friends” with her. These friends are tired of her and they feel as if they’re justified in almost mocking her for how she is coping. Watching her journey when she gets to Sweden and comes into her own is what makes this movie one of the best there is.
This collection, and the excitement around it, shows that the hype for Midsommar hasn’t died down, despite our love for other films from A24 and Ari Aster. It is about time that it got its own screenplay book and personally, I cannot wait to read about Midsommar from a different perspective.
Florence Pugh has recently been the subject of much media buzz thanks to the age gap between her and her partner, Zach Braff.
Pugh, who is 24-years-old, has been dating Scrubs star Zach Braff, who just turned 45, for nearly four years. As Pugh’s star has risen thanks to hit films like Little Women and Midsommar, media and fans alike have begun to question Braff and Pugh’s age gap. Finally, tired of all the abuse, Pugh posted the following video to her Instagram account on April 9th. Watch the video here.
In the video, she firmly warns fans against commenting about her relationship on her posts. “I will not allow that behaviour on my page. I’m not about that. It makes me upset and sad that during this time when we really all need to be together and supporting and loving one another… a few of you decided to bully for no reason,” the star said candidly. She goes on to say that she has been working and earning money since the age of 17 and paying taxes from the age of 18 and can make her own decisions when it comes to relationships.
“I’ll underline this fact,’ Pugh said. “I do not need you to tell me who I should and should not love and I would never in my life who they can and cannot love. It is not your place and really it has nothing to do with you. I don’t want this on my page, it’s embarrassing, it’s sad and I don’t know when cyberbullying became trendy or a points system. I don’t know why it’s a cool thing.”
More recently, in an interview for Elle UK, the actress spoke out about the online abuse again, saying “I know that part of being in the spotlight is that people might invade your privacy and have opinions on it, but it’s bizarre that normal folk are allowed to display such hate and opinions on a part of my life that I’m not putting out there,” she said. “It’s a strange side of fame that you’re allowed to be torn apart by thousands of people even though you didn’t put that piece of you out there.” She went on to say, “I don’t want to talk about it because it’s not something I want to highlight, but my point to all this is that isn’t it odd that a stranger can totally tear apart someone’s relationship and it’s allowed?”
While Pugh’s rebuff of cyberbullies was inspiring, the question still remains: Why do people have such an issue with Pugh and Braff’s relationship? Older male celebrities dating younger women is a tale as old as time. Think of Leonardo DiCaprio, known for dating women as much 20 years his junior, or Dennis Quaid (65) and girlfriend Laura Savoie (26). These couples don’t receive the kind of abuse Braff and Pugh have weathered, so what sets them apart? Perhaps the answer lies with Pugh’s fame. She is unquestionably the bigger star in the couple, so maybe fans’ image of who a beautiful young star should date isn’t compatible with Braff, who is cute in a non-threatening way and in no way the traditional Hollywood heart throb.
But then why don’t people have issues with Leonardo Dicaprio dating little-known models and actresses? Well, sexism, of course. We expect a big star like Leo to date young beautiful women, and we have no issue with the age gap because we don’t feel like we know the women in the relationship; they’re just unknown, beautiful faces. Not only that, but we expect famous women to date men who are even more famous than them, in order to increase their own star power. Meanwhile, famous men can exist in their own orbit of stardom and date who they choose.
We expect young female starlets like Pugh to date hunky heartthrobs while she’s in her prime, before she ages out of the narrow window in which women are valued in Hollywood. It makes us uncomfortable that Pugh is dating an older man who is not a massive star and not sexy in a traditional way, because it doesn’t fit with the narrative we’ve come to expect from the people we choose to bestow fame upon.
Our response to Pugh’s relationship also reflects the way society views a woman’s personal autonomy. When Ashton Kutcher was dating much older Demi Moore, no one questioned his decision-making. But people seem to think that Pugh needs to be warned against making a mistake in dating Braff, that she isn’t capable of making her own relationship choices. Why? You guessed it: sexism. Culturally, we don’t trust women to make decisions in the same way we trust men. Not only that, but in the case of Leo and his semi-anonymous young lovers, in our eyes, the women in the relationship don’t possess the kind of personal autonomy Pugh does; we don’t know them, they’re just pieces of eye candy. Pugh, on the other hand, has become a human being in our eyes, something that isn’t automatic when we perceive women the way it is for men. But that doesn’t mean she’s free from the unfair expectations we place on all women, famous or not.
On some level, we feel that Florence Pugh owes us a sexy, tumultuous relationship with some hot young Hollywood star. We feel that since we have decided to make her famous, to watch her movies and invest in her personal life, it is her duty to entertain us. Having a stable relationship with a 45-year-old nice-guy who doesn’t have a six pack and is known for a funny sitcom—not hit action movies—isn’t entertaining. That isn’t what we want to read about in the tabloids.
So, summarily, while you may think that it’s anti-feminist that Pugh is dating a much older man, and you may think that commenting on her relationship is in some way proving your devotion to her, you couldn’t be more wrong. If you have a problem with Pugh dating Braff, you’re essentially saying that she can’t be trusted to make her own choices, and you’re making her relationship about you and your own prejudice, not her and her happiness.
Just let Florence Pugh and Zach Braff be happy, okay?
