E's Reviews: Summer of '84


Summer of 84 was directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and written by Matt Leslie, Stephen J. Smith and stars a brilliant young cast of Graham Verchere, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Gruter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye and a very very entertaining Rich Sommer, and is about a group of teenage friends who spend their summer spying on their police officer neighbor and gathering evidence on him because they suspect him of being a serial killer, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things start to get dangerous.

This is one of those films I didn't know what to expect. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews and wasn't sure if I should buy it. It got a very limited cinema release around here and always late at night in the smaller screens. I was sort of disappointed because I had seen the trailers and it looked genuinely interesting. That's when I stumbled upon it when I was browsing my Microsoft Movies & TV app on my Xbox. At a mere twelve bucks (before taxes) I jumped on the opportunity to watch it...and now I'm glad I did. This is easily one of my favorite films of this year and a real treat to watch.

As always, I begin each review with what I didn't like, getting the bad out of the way first, and really, there's not much bad in this film at all. I mean, I guess it could've been longer or the dialogue could've been better? I don't know. Guess I'll just jump into what I loved?

And what I loved is quite a bit...I'm a huge fan of period pieces, and this just won me over immediately with the feel and look of the 80's (even the music...which was awesome). I was immediately brought back to my childhood, where I'd spend endless summer nights hanging out with my buddies, playing sports or hide and seek (like the boys do with their neighborhood friends in this film), talking about girls, and just generally having fun (albeit I did so in the 90's). The cinematography is great, the film looks really good. The acting is phenomenal, particularly all the kids play their roles to perfection. Hearing them banter back and forth felt genuine and reminded me of what it was like to be their age. I especially loved Rich Rommer as their neighbor, who was excellent! He came off as friendly and charming, yet at times felt dark and creepy, but then would go back to seeming pretty normal...it was a helluva twist fest.

The best part, I feel, is because of this...the script and the screenplay are superb. The film definitely has a great family drama/slasher/thriller feel, something of a modern Hitchcock like I was watching Distburbia (another modern Hitchcock type movie) but way more fun and way more charming than that movie ever could have accomplished. The dialogue felt genuine, the acting was great, and the ending...oh my GOD that ending! This film pulled all the write strings, pushed all the right buttons, and I really could not rave more about it, and I really really hope we get a sequel because I need to know what happens next! I only wish it were longer!!!

Final Score: 9/10

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