I am not entirely sure why A24 is positioning MidSommar as a big Fourth of July release.

Ari Aster’s follow-up to last year’s wildly acclaimed Hereditary doesn’t exactly have “massive summer hit” written all over it — as I write in my NOW review, it’s a frustrating, derivative work that’s  likely to disappoint people looking for the next weighty horror movie … though it works really well as a relationship drama.

I talked about that aspect of the film with Aster and co-star Jack Reynor when they came through town last week; feel free to check that out. No spoilers, just thoughtful conversation.