Midsommar Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

5. The Totally Compelling Human Drama

Though Midsommar's dramatic elements can't match Hereditary's genuinely insightful meditation on how humans deal with grief, it still pulls off some terrifically effective character drama that, outside of the film's genre context, totally works when played entirely straight.

While horror movies often use "character development" as a superficial gloss, Midsommar is as much a simple drama as it is a horror film about the inner workings of a pagan cult.

The grounded heartbreak felt by Dani from the outset creates an effortless, thick atmosphere of dread throughout the film, and even in its more outrageous moments, Midsommar never forgets about the people at its core.