Midsommar’s Florence Pugh Shares Throwback Behind-the-Scenes Photo of Iconic Scene

Filmmaker Ari Aster‘s Midsommar was a genre experience that defied description, as it went far beyond any type of predictable horrors to explore themes of grief and loss, while also offering a number of truly hilarious encounters. In one of the film’s more memorable scenes, Dani (Florence Pugh) gathers with the residents of a remote commune, dropping to the floor as they all exhaust themselves in a fit of sobbing, screaming, and panting. The abrasive interaction makes for an uncomfortable experience among audiences, with Pugh herself taking to Instagram to show a glimpse behind the scenes of the sequence, detailing just how much the process and performers transcended well beyond filming a movie.

“I’ve been waiting for a long time to post this picture,” Pugh shared on Instagram. “I knew when I took it that I had captured a special moment/day between all of us. This was THE scene. The scene which, all who were included knew exactly how many days there were until we shot it. The scene where we could throw our guts out on the floor and war cry and scream in each others’ faces. Luckily, Ari wrote exactly what we needed to do. We needed to grieve within under a minute. We needed to start every take fresh-faced and end it with snot and salty tears on our arms, chest, cheeks, and hands.”

She continued, “I remember the first take being so long, much longer than is displayed in the film that you all watched. When Ari said ‘cut,’ we all clung on to each others’ arms and dug our nails into each others’ palms and wept. Sobbed. Heaved. I remember it being hard to stop. I’ve never been an actor that finds it easy to cry on camera, it’s something very personal to me and despite finding all other aspects of acting exciting and thrilling, I find crying very scary and at some points in my career directors having to change the scene because I couldn’t do it. On this film, in this scene, I found a true sisterhood.”

You can head to Pugh’s Instagram page to check out the post and read her full thoughts on the scene.

Pugh will next be seen in Black Widow, which is expected to hit theaters on May 7th. Aster’s next movie, Disappointment Blvd., will star Joaquin Phoenix.

What do you think of the scene? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!