The independent studio and production house A24 might be making the biggest gamble of the summer movie season. They’re releasing Midsommar, Hereditary writer/director Ari Aster’s languid, 147-minute-long psychological horror film that’s shot almost entirely in broad daylight and features zero marquee names (the most recognizable face is the guy who plays Chidi on The Good Place), and they’re releasing it on Fourth of July weekend—the same Fourth of July weekend when theaters will be overwhelmed with crowds for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far from Home.
In some ways, at least, their timing makes sense: Midsommar’s release comes on the heels of the summer solstice, when many countries hold elaborate, age-old festivities to celebrate the new season. Aster sets his unsettling and unforgettable story during one such celebration: a fictional fête held every 90 years in the isolated Swedish commune of Hårga.