By Even on the first watch of Midsommar, the introduction of the bear to the picture feels like a very consciously important moment. One of the gang even asks: "So are we just gonna ignore the bear there?" You can't ignore it. It's Chekhov's bear.
Without wanting to give too much away if you've not seen Midsommar yet - and there are going to be some spoilers coming up, so if you've somehow decided to read this without wanting to know what happens in it, be warned - Chekhov's bear goes off quite spectacularly in the final act.
As we've pointed out before, Christian is sewn into the bear skin to show that he represents the "worst affekts" of the Harga, and is burned to purge the community of its flaws and sins. But exactly what the bear represents as a symbol is up to interpretation. Director Ari Aster has added a bit more detail to that, though he leaves the final decision up to the viewer.
"The bear is a very important symbol in Norse mythology and in Scandinavian folklore," Aster told Movieweb. "It was loaded in all of the right ways, to sort of tie it to Christian and the way that he dies. It occurred to me at some point in doing research for the film that this is the right way to send Christian off."
You can also now got your hands on your very own bear in a cage with a flower crown on it, should you yearn to be reminded of folk terror foreboding every time you go to the toilet.
Plus, if you'd been worried that you enjoyed seeing a man burn to death in a bear skin a bit too much, Aster's on your side. "I say, 'F*** it, just enjoy it'," he told Entertainment Weekly. "But, there should be an aftertaste to the uplift, I guess."
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