''Summering'' is a 2022 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written, directed, and produced by

James Ponsoldt James Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter. He directed the drama films '' Off the Black'' (2006) and '' Smashed'' (2012), the romantic comedy-drama ''The Spectacular Now'' (2013), and the dramas '' The End of the Tour'' ( ...

. It stars Lia Barnett,

Lake Bell Lake Siegel Bell (born March 24, 1979) is an American actress, screenwriter, and director. She has appeared in various television series, including '' Boston Legal'' (2004–2006), ''Surface'' (2005–2006), '' How to Make It in America'' (2010 ...

, Sarah Cooper,

Ashley Madekwe Ashley Madekwe (; born 6 December 1983) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Bambi in the ITV2 series ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' (2008–2010), Ashley Davenport in the ABC drama ''Revenge'' (2011–2013), and Tituba in the ...

, Madalen Mills,

Megan Mullally Megan Mullally (born November 12, 1958) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Karen Walker in the NBC sitcom '' Will & Grace'' (1998–2006, 2017–2020), for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outst ...

, Eden Grace Redfield, and Sanai Victoria. It was released on August 12, 2022, by

Bleecker Street Bleecker Street is an east–west street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightlife, nightclub district. The street connects a neighborhood popular today for music venues and comedy as well as a ...

Plot summary

The weekend prior to the beginning of middle school, which are the last days of their childhood and summer, four girls struggling with the harsh reality of growing up find themselves embarking on a mysterious adventure.

Cast

* Lia Barnett as Daisy * Madalen Mills as Dina * Eden Grace Redfield as Mari * Sanai Victoria as Lola *

as Stacie *

as Laura *

as Joy * Sarah Cooper as Karna * Dale McKeel as Daisy's Dad * Willow Corner-Bettwieser as Carol

Release

In August 2021, it was announced that

and

Stage 6 Films Stage 6 Films, Inc. is an American film division of Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions that acquires and produces feature films to be released either theatrically, on demand, or through streaming services. Once a film is finished, Sony Picture ...

have acquired American and international distribution rights to the film respectively. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

on January 22, 2022. It was originally scheduled to be released on July 15, 2022 and it was delayed by August 12, 2022.

Reception

The film has a 34% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 68 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "''Summering'' is a harmless enough coming-of-age story, but there are far superior -- and far less saccharine -- entries in this crowded genre."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

rated the film a 50 out of 100 based on 17 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Pete Hammond of ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'' gave the film a positive review and wrote, "There are things to talk about ''after'' the movie ends. And it doesn’t ever talk down to its intended audience. If anything, the adults are the ones desperately in need of connecting with their inner kid." Fred Topel of

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

also gave the film a positive review and wrote, "''Summering'' is like a female

Amblin Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...

movie." Guy Lodge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Too much of ''Summering'', however, plays out in an unsatisfying middle ground: embedded neither in real life, nor in its heroines’ restless, malleable imaginations." Angie Han of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' also gave the film a negative review and wrote, "But alas, its potential for magic is dulled by uneven performances, unconvincing chemistry and an uninspiring script." Natalia Winkelman of IndieWire graded the film a C− and wrote, "As is, ''Summering'' is too scattered and silly for us to really care."

References

External links

* * {{James Ponsoldt 2022 films 2022 drama films American coming-of-age drama films 2022 independent films Films directed by James Ponsoldt Films scored by Drum & Lace 2020s coming-of-age drama films 2020s English-language films 2020s American films Bleecker Street films Stage 6 Films films English-language independent films