The force better be real strong in “The Rise of Skywalker.”

The only way superfans actually enjoy a blockbuster franchise like “Star Wars” is by having high expectations for the movies — and having those unyielding demands met or exceeded, a sobering new study suggests.

Researchers from Ohio State University surveyed “Star Wars” fans before and after the release of 2017’s “The Last Jedi.”

They found that people who had low expectations going into the film — in other words, your reluctant partner who never really got into the movies as a kid but is a good sport about it all — were surprisingly pleased with it. Still, those casual watchers admitted they ultimately didn’t enjoy the movie that much.

However, the fans who had possibly unrealistic expectations and didn’t like the film — you know who you are, you insufferable lot — were left with a similarly bad taste in their mouths.

Point blank: The only fans who had a positive experience watching the movie were those whose high expectations were met. The chances of enjoying the film depend on both a serious level of optimism and, you know, it actually being a good film.

This doesn’t bode well for those still planning on seeing the latest in the mega-franchise, “Rise of Skywalker,” which came out last week to lukewarm reviews — in a three-star review, The Post’s movie critic declared it just an “OK end to the saga.”

The study, published in the Journal of Media Psychology, surveyed 441 moviegoers before and after “The Last Jedi.” The viewers were asked to rate their expectations from high to low. After they saw the movie, they gave their reviews. Then, three weeks later, they evaluated their overall enjoyment.

Overall, the sorriest of the bunch were those whose high expectations were not met. But even preparing for the movie to suck — and then liking it — didn’t help. Those critics’ overall enjoyment of the film was pretty low.

“It wasn’t really helping people to go in with those low expectations,” said study co-author James Alex Bonus, assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University in a statement. “The negative bias going in dragged them down and even if they were pleasantly surprised by the movie, they still didn’t like it as much as other people did.”

“The Rise Of Skywalker” has let down a lot of space opera diehards since its release — fans who undoubtedly had sky-high expectations. Only 55 percent of critics rated the flick “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes and its much-anticipated same-sex kiss scene — a franchise first — was criticized for involving minor side characters, rather than Finn and Poe.