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Summering

2022

Lake Bell, Megan Mullally, Madalen Mills, Ashley Madekwe ...

Drama Four best friends on the brink of starting middle school, realize their lives are about to change forever. So on the last weekend of summer, they set out to make the most of it.

	Author	Review
United States	Natalia Winkelman IndieWire	"Maybe with more natural writing, less awkward staging, or a consistent mood, the girl group would feel like a version of the 'Stranger Things' crew (...) As is, 'Summering' is too scattered and silly for us to really care"	NEG
United States	Guy Lodge Variety	"[It] nods to the bittersweet complexities of growing up and confronting adulthood, but never gets as far as fully dramatizing them."	NEU
United States	William Bibbiani The Wrap	"'Summering' may not fully satisfy in the plot department —not every mystery gets resolved —but the story certainly does"	NEU
United States	Angie Han The Hollywood Reporter	"Its potential for magic is dulled by uneven performances, unconvincing chemistry and an uninspiring script."	NEG
United States	Jason Bailey The Playlist	"A pleasant but lightweight tale (...) A very nice movie –sweet, affectionate, nostalgic, harmless– so it's tempting to give it a pass. But 'nice' and 'compelling', sadly, are not the same thing"	NEU
United Kingdom	Wendy Ide Screendaily	"Key to the film’s appeal is the way that the friendship between the four girls is persuasively brought to life"	POS
United States	Beatrice Loayza The New York Times	"Though admirable in its attempt to capture that hazy, searching quality of the purgatory between childhood and adolescence, 'Summering' is also, as a result, sleepy and adrift"	NEU
United States	Christopher Schobert The Film Stage	"[Ponsoldt] has made a film as unfocused and forgettable as a rainy late-summer afternoon. These characters deserve better."	NEG
United States	Leigh Monson AV Club	"'Summering' may be a breezy little trip through the nostalgia of youth, but its stabs at deeper meaning are woefully immature"	NEU
Canada	Nadir Samara Screen Rant	"A slow and ultimately boring mystery that does little to portray youth in a meaningful way (…) Rating: ★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"[It] needs to be a hangout movie, letting its characters be imperfect, quirky, and genuine, but it felt completely calculated to me, pushing them to manipulative subplots in pursuit of a story that doesn't really come together"	NEU
United States	Pete Hammond Deadline	"The young cast shines (...) [Ponsoldt] has always shown a smart indie sensibility and humanist touch lending the same weight to a very different kind of film"	POS
United States	Erick Massoto Collider	"The sweet ride through childhood has its hiccups, but is a pleasant watch overall"	NEU
United States	Andy Crump Paste Magazine	"James Ponsoldt takes a vacation from making good movies with 'Summering'"	NEG
United States	David Fear Rolling Stone	"'Summering' works better as a mood than it does a movie, succeeding in channeling a certain feeling of transition despite ambling more traditional kids-flicks narrative beats"	NEU
United States	M.N. Miller Ready Steady Cut	"When it comes to the overall plot, the film’s tone is mellow and whimsical. It does not adequately convey the gravity of the situation (…) [it] loses its soul and never bothers to recover it (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEG
United States	Matthew Monagle Austin Chronicle	"We enjoy the journey, even if the story beats are more harvested than heartfelt. The cast makes it true (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Chris Hewitt Los Angeles Times	"Hopeful, pensive 'Summering' (...) The script by James Ponsoldt and Ben Percy beautifully captures a sense of longing and loss"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A lot of viable ideas have gone to waste. A disappointment (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG

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