Summering
bleecker streetThe process of growing up is one of the most complex and revolutionary times in an individual's life. An act of complete inward and outward diastrophism that changes every relationship and individual has both with themselves and others; things can become difficult and scary very quickly. James Ponsoldt's newest feature Summering is the newest of a long line of films attempting to capture this revolution on the big screen. Following a group of girls who are enjoying the last week of summer together before they are split up in the transition to middle school, things only get more intense once they stumble upon a dead corpse. Rather than telling their parents and wasting the last week of being together with adults breathing down their necks, the girls keep this information to themselves and decide to go on their own quest to find out who this man was and might just find out stuff about themselves along the way.
Feeling spiritually similar to that of Rob Reiner's classic Stand By Me, Summering is a beautiful small gem that is infectious with its charm. This charm comes from multiple places within the film, the immediate being the setting. Summering is a film that lives and breathes the season in its title, Every inch of the film is basking in a glorious summer sun and heat that carries just enough magic to send audiences back to the summers of their own youths. The film embraces a vibrant pallet of greens and yellows that pop and radiate. Audiences can feel the thickness in the air and the embrace of warmth with empathetic and atmospheric filmmaking.
This plays wonderfully off the next area of charm: the friendship. Brough together by the closeness of their houses, the friendship and dynamics shared between these girls feel authentic and natural. There is a roughness in personalities but ultimately a deeper care and affection that speaks to real childhood friendships. The ensemble of young actors is all excellent with their line deliveries and personalities feeling flawlessly smooth. Whether it is a moment of comedy or heartbreaking emotion, these girls embody these characters and it is clear the crew worked with them to create something that spoke somewhat authentically to who they are in real life. This continually is proven to be the best course of action when working with young actors to avoid any awkwardness or noticeably forced acting.
The depths of the film are where the project threatens to become a bit more uneven. Not just is the film an adventure story of these girls hiding the truth from their parents and trying to find out who this man was, but it also becomes an almost horror movie at points as they are individually haunted by the man who died. It also is a family drama as one of the girl's moms is an alcoholic and the girl has to deal with not just that, but also the emotions of her dad leaving the family and abandoning them. The film in this regard is messy and tonally jarring, yet even this ends up finding its charm. The key thing to keep in mind is that Summering is a film that is told from the perspective of children. Things like the ghost of the man stalking these girls ultimately make no sense, but as a child that is how fears are. Things are not always logical or clean with some grand finale, they are rough and scary which is something film tends to not express but Summering fully embraces as a backbone of its own identity.
This isn't to say everything is justified because of this excuse. There are scenes that still are disjointed and the lack of conclusion for some of the film's biggest questions is undeniably frustrating. Yet when one looks at the heart and soul of the project, these problems start to feel less and less important. While being advertised as something for kids, it feels obvious that Summering is really a film for adults to reflect on and be exposed to childhood. This is an important thing to keep in mind as, without this perspective, much of the film will fall apart like an unstable house of cards.
While Summering is far from perfect, the film is beautiful in its own unique way. Embracing the highs and lows of childhood on screen unlike any other project in recent memory, Summering is a special little gem that deserves attention. The entire cast, both adult and child, are wonderful and the film carries both a gleeful charm and emotional depth that work well together. While things are messy, things ultimately are worthwhile and the film will undeniably go down as one of the bright spots of the summer.
