In the Summers

My wife hated but I loved it. It's not a feel good everything is perfect and predictable movie. It is a wondow into someone else life. A true story.

It's a real look at the dynamics of siblling during childhood as they compete for parents love and attention.

But it is much more. You see how children become adults without traditional hollywood tools.

The use of the pool was great as well. I don't do spoilers but you will see. It may just be how I see it.

A small part of the movie is in spanish and not captioned, but I think i got what they where saying most of the time.

That you six hundred characters to submit review. I wanted to stop at first paragraph.

Watched this without knowing much about it, but the idea for the story is good, which prompted me to watch it. It's certainly well acted but there's only so much anyone can do with this script.

The dad isn't a very convincing character. He's portrayed quite well as a struggling dad trying very hard (too hard) to be a fun dad, while constantly being a little threatening. But when he actually gets mad and shouts a people, I felt the scenes were just there to show him as repressing his anger, and the situations themselves didn't really make sense. And how come he's a maths expert while otherwise a deadbeat? Why do the girls keep going back? Nothing really fits together properly.

Saying all this, it is watchable and I think 6 is a realistic score.

Eve and Violeta are sisters of divorced parents. They spend every summer with their father Vicente (Residente) in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Of course, this is reminiscent of Boyhood except it wasn't filmed over twelve years. This one uses three sets of actresses to depict the sisters in the four time periods. I really appreciate the attempt. There is some authenticity here. It feels like a piece of real life, possibly the life of the writer/director. Problem is that it's missing that cinematic high concept in Boyhood. I would probably use the same actresses to play three consecutive summers and the older actresses for the final summer. After the accident, the intensity flattens out for the last two parts.

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

"In the Summers" won the Grand Jury Prizes for U. S. Dramatic Competition and Directing, Screenwriting and Editing and it is well deserved because Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio does a good job on capturing the themes of father and children's relationship, the personal struggles and the conflicts of flawed but loving parenting could be.

Throughout, the camerawork, style, and the atmosphere feels realistic and nature. The writing is standard as it isn't something that is new or ground-breaking but Samudio's direction was good and her new approach on the family dynamics and fatherhood felt refreshing without having to see the typical family tropes in movies. Many of the performances are really good with all the child actors doing a great job. The performance from Residente was really amazing as he really stands out with his performance.

The dialogue between the characters are interesting and the sense of realism, conflict and charm in the characters were emotionally investing and engaging. The pacing is pretty good, the soundtrack is good and the themes were well-executed. The third act does slightly lose a little of the magical to what the movie is going for.

But overall, it was one of my favorites of this years festival.

"In the Summers" is a film that spans through routine shots and similar environments over the course of multiple years to highlight how a parent's personal struggles can leave lasting impressions on children as they transition through the crucial phases of their developmental years. Instead of leaning on the "bad parent" trope that is often used in a story like this, director Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio chooses to portray this father figure in a more relatable light. Though flawed and seemingly stuck in one place, Vicente (played by Residente) shows an equal amount of love and adventurous care for his daughters as he does carelessness and anger. The main conflict of being a loving father vs. Being a good father, and not having the ability to maintain both, is at the forefront of each of these four chapters. There's a sense of reality and decisive empowerment that ultimately shapes the direction of this story leaving audiences with an emotionally reflective moment in the final sequence. The visuals are quaint and the score by Eduardo Cabra is collaborative rather than distractive which keeps this film completely grounded with the distinct message that it wants to share. A strong directorial debut for Samudio and one that'll act as a foundation for more stories to come.