Four of the best friends uncover a dead corpse in the woods over a sunny Labor Day weekend, signalling the passing of childhood and the approach of puberty. If you believe you have seen this before, “Summering” makes no attempt to hide the similarity. James Ponsoldt’s leisurely, sun-kissed coming-of-age drama plays as an all-female tribute to Rob Reiner’s “Stand By Me,” a reference that won’t mean anything to the pre-teen girls it’s aiming at but may make some of their parents a bit teary-eyed.
However, this breeze-blown dandelion seed of a movie may make you feel the most nostalgic. It makes hints to the complicated and bittersweet realities of growing up and facing maturity, but it never completely dramatises them.
As a result, “Summering” is a watchable movie for patient, considerate kids and their elders alike, but it’s a letdown from writer-director James Ponsoldt, who is back in his comfort zone of polite indie filmmaking after the failure of 2017’s Tom Hanks-starring thriller “The Circle” and a subsequent period of TV recovery.
The mellow, softly melancholy delights of Ponsoldt films like “The Spectacular Now” and “The End of the Tour” briefly come to mind in his sixth movie, but all too often it seems like the youthful emphasis of his newest comes with a larger, flimsier approach to character and storytelling. “Summering’s” limited crossover potential is evident from the fact that it debuted in the Sundance Kids sidebar rather than the more well-known programmes that helped establish its director’s reputation. This Bleecker Street release is most likely to eventually find its young audience on streaming services.
However, for a little period of time at the beginning, it seems like Ponsoldt has something more uncommon and unique: similar to Céline Sciamma’s “Petite Maman,” a movie with an arthouse sensibility that can nonetheless speak directly to any youngsters who stumble upon it. Before they tumble forth into the great, bright suburban outdoors, shrieking and giggling, and set out on their last ordinary adventure of the summer, its four young leads are introduced via an eerie, dreamily lit game of indoor hide-and-seek, foreshadowing a series of less evocative jump scares strewn throughout the rest of the movie.
Ponsoldt patiently follows the group as they stroll and converse their way into the adjacent woods under Greta Zozula’s sparkling, every-hour-is-magic lensing, with several cross-fades capturing the conversation’s naturally leisurely, haphazard quality.
Days out from the commencement of middle school, the girls’ minds are buzzing with anticipation, worries, and ideas. Mari (Eden Grace Redfield) is going to a Catholic institution and worries about the uniform she will have to wear; Daisy (Lia Barnett) is complaining about her common name and wondering whether a new school gives an opportunity for her to reinvent herself with a new moniker. The staunchly fact-oriented Dina (Madalen Mills) and spiritually inclined Lola (Sanai Victoria) argue over their divergent worldviews, yet it’s easy to pick up on the undercurrent of adolescent angst behind all this friendly banter. Despite their best efforts, the sisters can’t help but display a shared, quiet anxiety that their friendship, like the pleasantly fading summer, is coming to an end.
So far, so meaningful. However, when “Summering” shifts its focus from constructing ruminative scenes to presenting a tale, all of that subtle subtext transforms into text, and a slightly Nickelodeon tone permeates Ponsoldt and Benjamin Percy’s lean script. When the girls arrive at their secret play location, “Terabithia,” the subject of adulthood intruding fragile jeunesse is starkly literalized when they find the dead body of an adult man who seemed to have leapt from a nearby bridge. Mari is hesitant to contact the police, but her friends dissuade her. They counter that their mothers are already overly protective, so what impact would this trauma have on their independence in the future?
If that’s a rational course of action for tweens, then that’s also where the movie loses credibility because the girls decide to Nancy Drew the case instead. In the meantime, their different mothers—who, interestingly enough, aren’t all so helicopter-y as to allow their daughters have cellphones—wonder what on earth they’re up to as they commit various break-ins, invasions of adult locations, and an amateur seance. Given that it serves as nothing more than a catalyst for the ladies to work through their own fears and concerns about the future, the lack of much of a mystery to solve isn’t an issue. In case we hadn’t gotten the point, Mari observes, “It used to be nicer to be older, but it doesn’t seem so fantastic today.”
Moving forward thus far All of the subtle subtext, however, turns into text when “Summering” shifts its attention from creating ruminative situations to telling a story, and a faintly Nickelodeon tone seeps into Ponsoldt and Benjamin Percy’s spare script. The issue of adulthood encroaching on delicate youth is painfully literalized when the girls arrive at their secret play site, “Terabithia,” where they discover the dead body of an adult man who looks to have jumped from a nearby bridge. When Mari feels like contacting the police, her friends talk her out of it. They argue that since their moms are already extremely protective, what effect would a catastrophe like this have on their ability to become independent in the future?
Except for a side tale about Daisy’s absent father (men are very seldom ever present in the movie’s setting), the girls’ inner lives are largely kept from us. The little nuances are also important. The biggest hint we have to the ladies’ fandoms and side interests is probably the usage of Taylor Swift’s lovely, melancholic folk ballad “Seven” in the end credits.
Intriguingly, while the girls are separated from one another and seeking to interact with their mothers—who Megan Mullally exquisitely represents, Lake Bell, Ashley Madekwe, and online phenom Sarah Cooper—the movie’s most poignant and naturally acted sequences take place. A beautiful scene in which Mullally is left on her alone while trying to strike a balance between fear and politeness as she leaves her daughter a worried voicemail offers the sort of deep real-world grounding that “Summering” could use more of.
This is not to discount its errant, seductive ventures towards magical realism, such as when the girls temporarily and unsteadily defy gravity after entering “Terabithia” or when a childish mural of a tree in an empty school hallway abruptly drops its hand-printed leaves. Too much of “Summering,” nevertheless, takes place in an unpleasant middle ground where it is neither rooted in reality nor the restless, changeable imaginations of its women.
Summering, a coming-of-age drama about the friendships forged in the formative years of youth, has a trailer available thanks to Bleecker Street. In a month, the film, which will be directed by an all-female young cast and is based on 80s cult films about young children experiencing life, will have its theatre debut.
The movie’s trailer makes it clear that Summering has Stand By Me-like undertones. Mari (Eden Grace Redfield), Dina (Madalen Mills), Lola (Sanai Victoria), and Daisy (Lia Barnett), spend their summer days making the most of their friendship and attempting to spend as much time together as they can before middle school starts and they are forced to part ways. However, their last journey will be a significant one: the girls unearth a dead corpse and swear to learn who the person was and how they came to be in that condition.
The moody trailer also suggests that the film will likely succeed in portraying the essence of late childhood, when our natural need to investigate the world around us leads us to make insignificant but profound discoveries that may ultimately shape who we are as people. The film will also depict the youngsters’ first encounters with change anxiety, the point at which saying goodbye to pals is impossible, the realisation that getting older is overrated, and the desire to make every enjoyable moment endure indefinitely.
James Ponsoldt, who has created outstanding films including The Spectacular Now and The End of the Tour, has demonstrated in his prior filmography his skill for capturing the essence of both positive and negative life situations. He is the director of Summering. The script was co-written by Ponsoldt and Benjamin Percy, who is penning his first major motion picture. In the Sundance Film Festival this year, the movie got an early debut. The writer and director spoke with IndieWire during the event about the story’s motivation, the choice to cast four lead ladies, and how the pandemic years inspired it:
“I have three young children, and I really believe that many of the ideas for [the movie] came from discussions I had with all of them, but especially with my little girl. As I was scowering for movies to show her and chatting with her about the TV shows and books I used to read as a child, I went back in time and realised how many stories I had as a child that were either coming-of-age tales or tales about first encounters with mortality and death. These tales almost always starred male protagonists.
This movie is based largely in part on conversations that my wife, kids, and co-writer Ben Percy’s daughter and I have all had or are now having with one another. We’re all probably wondering if everything will be well and go back to normal, whatever that means.
Lake Bell (Harley Quinn), Sarah Cooper (HouseBroken), Ashley Madekwe (Revenge), and Megan Mullally are also included in the cast (Will & Grace). On August 12, Summering had its theatrical debut.
The official summary may be found here:
Four friends named Dina, Lola, Daisy, and Mari are the focus of the movie, which is set in the waning days of summer and focusses on them as they prepare to part ways when middle school begins. They come discover a mystery while debating how to spend their last weekend together, and it takes them on a trip that will change their lives. The buddies make a sequence of discoveries that are both about learning the unpleasant realities of growing up and about solving the mystery.
Where to Watch Summering (2022)?
Summering (2022) will be premiering in theatres on August 12, 2022. We do not recommend illegal streaming and always suggest paying for the content you like to watch.
Is Summering (2022) available on Amazon Prime?
Amazon prime will not be streaming Summering (2022). Additionally, several other films are streaming on Prime. Our recommendations are The Voyagers, It’s a Wonderful Life, Notting Hill, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Is Summering (2022) available on HBO Max?
HBO Max will not be streaming Summering (2022). However, HBO’s subscribers can enjoy its other popular streams like Euphoria, When Harry Met Sally and Promising Young Woman.
Is Summering (2022) available on Hulu?
Summering (2022) is not available on Hulu. The new release line-up additionally includes Pam and Tommy, How I Met Your Father, Abbott Elementary, and Vikings.
Is Summering (2022) available on Netflix?
Summering (2022) will not be available to stream on Netflix. However, other brilliant shows like The Power of The Dog, The Social Network, Tick, Tick, Boom, and much more are available.