The Terror of Being a Woman: Contemporary Horror and The Illusion of Autonomy

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 1. (A24 Films 2019)                                              2. (Warner Bros. Entertainment 2025)           


On the left sits a beautiful still shot of Florence Pugh, smiling and adorned with flowers, the center piece of the camera cast in a soft glow. On the right, Sophie Thatcher looks up and past the camera, focused on a taller subject, gazing at it with a sweet smile and an unnatural glow in her eyes.


To anyone familiar with the horror genre, especially the renaissance of the 2010’s, the images stand out as iconic shots or promotional posters for Midsommar and Companion, respectively.


 Although horror has typically been seen as “low-brow” entertainment (associated with lame “scary movies,” cheap jump scares, predictable gags, and obscene amounts of gore), the genre can also serve as a reflection of the issues society deems uncomfortable, molding and abstracting them into twisted frights worthy of the screen.  Films like Companion and Midsommar do just this, tackling issues of choice feminism and shitty “relationships” through a stomach-turning lens. On the one hand, Midsommar centers on the strained relationship between Dani and Christian as they and Christian's friends travel to rural Sweden and fall prey to a group of seemingly friendly cultists (Aster, 2019). On the other hand, Companion follows Iris as she navigates a weekend getaway with her boyfriend, Josh, that goes wrong, culminating in murder and artificial intelligence gaining sentience (Hancock, 2025).

      

            Following Companion, we watch as Iris and Josh arrive at a secluded cabin for a weekend trip with his friends (Kat and Eli) and their partners (Sergey and Patrick). The cabin, belonging to a wealthy Sergey, opens onto a nearby lake and the surrounding woods. While alone at the lake, Sergey attempts to sexually assault Iris, who kills him in fear. After attempting to tell the others of the incident, Josh shuts her down and later directly reveals to Iris that she is simply a companion robot. Once breaking out, Iris steals Josh’s phone (the key to controlling her), raises her own intelligence, kills Eli, and tries to flee. Josh then reveals that the getaway was meant to be a plot between him and Kat to kill Sergey through a “jailbroken” Iris, take his money, and frame the out-of-order robot. Iris, being caught by Patrick, Eli’s own reprogrammed companion, the faces off with Josh, breaking up with and killing him, before she finally gets away and lives her new life under her own terms.


As the film progresses, Iris and her existence parallel authority-centered form principles. As Marianne Weber describes in Authority and Autonomy in Marriage, women in marriages dictated by Authority are bound by the rules of Primitive Patriarchalism and Legally-Protected Predominance. 

Much like Weber would describe, Iris is literally and figuratively Josh’s property. Iris as a Companion was created, manufactured, sold, and bought with the sole purpose of serving to satisfy a man’s (in this case, Josh’s) physical, sexual, emotional, and (later) financial needs. While it initially appears that Iris loves Josh and desires to serve him, she remains at his beck and call with a simple command or a push of a button, even after she gains sentience and desires to be free. 

Similarly, Patrick, having also been revealed to be a Companion, is given the same treatment. Although not a woman, Patrick still holds a subservient role in his relationship with Eli. Patrick reveals to Eli that he was aware of his existence as a robot, but “chooses” to remain by his side out of love. While the relationship appears to parallel Autonomy, the case still stands for Authority. Weber, a proponent of choice feminism, describes Autonomous marriage as centered on Life Partnership and the Freedom of Conscience. Even as Patrick regains consciousness, “chooses” Eli, and, in a sweet moment, is promised a new life where Eli remains by his side and respects him, Patrick, much like Iris, is still under Eli's direct control and his phone.


Likewise, in Midsommar, we see that Dani is at an all-time low, having lost her sister to suicide and, incidentally, her parents. As she struggles, she clings to Christian for support even as he remains distant and, secretly, desires to break up with her. Contrasting with Christians' cold shoulder, once having arrived at a secluded commune in Sweden, Dani is greeted and surrounded with open arms by the welcoming community. Behind the scenes, the cult murders the rest of Christian’s friends and slowly lures both him and Dani deeper into the traps set for them. While Christian is seduced by a younger girl in the community, Dani, having witnessed the betrayal, is greeted by other women who (in a terrifying show of empathy and connection) cry with her and let her feel seen. In the final scene depicted above, Dani smiles as she is declared the May Queen of the cult's Midsummer festival (occurring only once in 90 years), watching as Christian burns to death inside a building (having been drugged by the girl earlier and placed inside a bear suit). 


While not explicitly shown to begin in a controlling relationship, Dani is still trapped by an authority-dictated framework. Much like the relationships of late Antiquity that Weber describes, Christian appears bound to Dani out of “morality” rather than love or sex; Dani is thus bound to Christian as a means of protecting her from the loneliness of the world/her emotions (rather than from the brutality of other men) and, in stead, subject to his cold and harsh treatment.

As the movie progresses, Dani, much like Iris and Patrick, appears to break free from Christian and is charmed not only by another man (Pelle) but also by the Hårga as a whole. Unlike Christian, Pelle and his community stand by Dani by remembering her birthday, including her in their celebrations, validating her emotions, offering reassurance, and understanding. These, in combination with her winning the crown, discovering Christian’s infidelity (with a teen girl, mind you), and copious amounts of psychedelics, culminate in the film's final moments. 

Dani sits on her throne and bears (no pun intended) witness to Christian burning alive in a bear suit. As the Hårga carries her along, she smiles, having been rid of Christian and accepting her place and power within the community.


Both films, in their own right, would likely horrify Marianne Weber. The women shown appear to break away and choose how to live their lives after murdering their awful boyfriends, much to Weber's likely disapproval.


But are these truly the cruelest fates? Are marriage and partnership needed to be either safe or restricted as a woman?


Iris is all alone and new to the world, leaving her seemingly vulnerable. But then again, she is the freest and most intelligent. Iris is in control of her own intelligence and physical capabilities, proving she can fend for herself against the very men she is most likely to need protection from and against, her partners.


Juxtaposing this, the same community to which Dani has pledged her allegiance, which, in theory, best reflects Marianne's ideals, is simply a rebranded form of oppression. Yet, is it true freedom? Dani is now, whether aware or not, stuck in an arguably worse situation than before. The temptation to say that Dani, having forged a relationship with Pelle and the rural cult, is now Autonomously bound to her new life is present. Dani, as the May Queen and a potential mate (given her status as an outsider), may momentarily hold power similar to that of the community. However, once the day is over, and she is no longer the Queen or a fresh outsider, she is understood as bound (much like Coverture) to the cult and, without them, stands to be emotionally and physically vulnerable to isolation and violence from them.


Ultimately, Companion and Midsommar are brilliant yet unconventional examples of Marianne Weber's ideas on Authority and Autonomy. Regardless of the speculation about lies beyond both films' endings, the depressing reality that humanity is slowly approaching Companion bots, or the horrifying circumstances behind Dani's manipulation, both films are united in their representation of the fear of being a woman. Whether it's controlling, loser partners, or people trying to take advantage of someone's vulnerability, fiction is never truly that far from reality.





Our flesh may be different, but our chains are both made of metal.










  1. Bibliography

  3. 1. A24 Films LLC. 2019. Dani as the May Queen.

    3. Aster, Ari. 2019. Midsommar. A24 Films.

    4. Hancock, Drew. 2025. Companion. Warner Bros. Entertainment.

    5. Warner Bros. Entertainment. 2025. Companion Promotional Movie Poster.

    6. Weber, Marianne, and Craig R. Bermingham. 2003. “Authority and Autonomy in Marriage: Translation with Introduction and Commentary.” Sociological Theory 21(2):85–102. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9558.00179.
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