Pelle My parents died in a fire.
Played by Vilhelm Blomgren 
Midsommar (2019) · 23 quotes
Midsommar (2019) · 23 quotes
Most-quoted character in Midsommar (2019): in 9 of its 23 quotes
Most scenes with: Dani (4), Christian (4), Josh (4)
Nature just knows instinctually how to stay in harmony! It’s mechanical. Everything doing its part.
More lines from Pelle
1 quote Pelle Scenes with Pelle
7 scenes
Dude: you need to stop sitting on the fence with this.
But what if I end up regretting it a week later, and then I can’t get her back?
You don’t want her back!
I might!
So then you can bitch to us for that week about how much you regret it, and we'll be like “Dude: you’ve been wanting out of this absurd relationship for the last year,”and you’ll be like “oh shit, that’s right” and then you can find some new chick who actually likes sex and who doesn’t drag you through a million hoops a day.
Do you think a masochistic part of you is playing this drama out to distract you from the work you actually need to be doing?
And what work do I actually need to do, Josh?
Uhhh – your prospectus maybe? I dunno. Your PhD...?
Waitress [Waitress brings the check]
Whenever you guys are ready.
Pelle Thank you.
Waitress [She smiles at Christian]
Thank you.
Dude. You could be getting that girl pregnant right now.
Pelle And don’t forget all the Swedish women you can impregnate in June.
Yeah, dude – don’t forget all the Swedish milkmaids.
Pelle [shrugs]
That's a bear.
Who all sleeps in here?
Pelle All the younger ones. Until we turn thirty-two. Then we move to the houses.
Why thirty-two?
Pelle We think of life like the seasons. You are a child until you’re 16, and that is the Spring. At some point we all do our Pilgrimage, and that’s between 17 and 32. That’s Summer. Then, from 33 to 52, you’re of working age: Fall. And finally from 53 to 72, you become a mentor.
Winter.
What happens when you turn 72, then?
[Pelle makes a throat slashing gesture. Dani laughs]
Pelle All right – beauty rest! Tomorrow’s a big day.
And what’s tomorrow?
Pelle First of the big ceremonies.
So you’re just gonna be weird and cryptic?
[Pelle pauses, then takes Josh’s notepad. He writes “Ättestupan” and hands it back.] [eyes widening]
Are you serious?
[Pelle smiles mischievously.]
What’s that? What’s Ättestupan? [pulls out his phone and types “Atestupan” into a search engine. But there’s no internet connection.] ****. What’s Ättestupan?
Is it scary?
You'll see.
Pelle Uh we're gonna stand until it's – right to sit.
Pelle I need to warn you before we go down...because you might not want to.
Is this gonna be something weird?
Pelle Uhhh – it might seem very weird, but it’s a great honor for them.
Is this the thing you mentioned last night?
Ättestupan.
Pelle We’re about to perform a centuries-old rite that is very important to us and very beautiful, but also – very far from anything you have in America.
Pelle Well – that’s what I’m saying. You’re invited to. I just... [pauses] You remember I explained the winter stage of a man’s life goes from 53 to 72? Well, this is what happens when 72 is reached.
Okay. And what is “this”? What is Ättestupan?
I’m really sorry, Pelle. Thank you for inviting me, but I really need to go. Can someone maybe drive me?
Pelle I did warn you this time. I know it looks extreme, but we only do this once every ninety years. It’s – what’s the word...?
I understand that it’s momentous.
Pelle Right! Exactly!
I don’t know why we’re here, Pelle! I don’t know why you invited us!
Pelle Okay: Here: Sit down. Please. I invited my friends because this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and I wanted to share it. Especially with my friends who I knew would appreciate it, because I am proud of this place.
But I’m not an anthropologist. I don’t have the foundation to understand this.
Pelle And yet I was the most excited for you to come. Here: smell this.
What is it?
Pelle It calms you down. Go on. Inhale. I will, too. Isn’t that nice?... I know what you’re going through, Dani.
What am I going through? I’m scared. I can’t breathe.
Pelle You’re going through a lot. I know you are, and I’m gonna say something now, because my birth parents are both gone, too--
What?! [crying] That’s not what I’m talking about!
Pelle I know, and that’s fine, but please... My birth-parents both died when I was a little boy. They burned up in a fire, and I became – technically – an orphan. So believe me when I say I know what that is, because I do. Yet my difference is: I didn’t get a chance to feel lost. Because I had a family – here – where everyone embraced me and swept me up and I was raised by a community that doesn’t distinguish between what is theirs and what is not theirs. That’s what you were sacrificed to. But I – have always felt...held. By a family. A real family. Which everyone deserves. And you deserve.
Pelle He’s what I’m talking about. And he’s my good friend and I like him... But do you feel held by him, Dani? Does he feel like a home to you? My pilgrimage has been fun. New York is fun... But I also find it terrifying how people live. As if it’s necessary and even good to be lost and drifting...and I haven’t spent one night over there that I haven’t longed to be back here...in the lap of the Hårgas. Stay, Dani. Please. It will be good... And I swear we’re all finished sacrificing animals.
