"Summering" an earnest, middle-of-the-road "Stand by Me"/"Now and Then"

Summering (2022)

With the wispiness, wistfulness, and meandering nature of a “summer that changed everything” coming-of-age film, director James Ponsoldt (2013’s “The Spectacular Now”) very much evokes those feelings in “Summering.” Unlike his last film (the 2017 misfire “The Circle”), this material at least feels better suited for Ponsoldt’s soulful, naturalistic sensibilities, but there’s just not enough here for this girlhood adventure to carve out its own special place. It’s this generation's female “Stand by Me,” right down to the discovery of a dead body, just not as poignant or memorable.

It’s the end of summer before the first day of middle school for four 11-year-old friends, Daisy (Lia Barnett), Dina (Madalen Mills), Mari (Eden Grace Redfield), and Lola (Sanai Victoria). One afternoon near their favorite spot in the woods under a bridge dubbed “Terabithia,” the girls make a grim discovery: the body of a man in a suit. They make a pact, waiting to decide what to do with the body based on what they see on adult cop shows and figure out who he was. Library computer investigation and sugar-circled séances ensue.

Children being forced to grow up after an encounter with death has been explored in countless movies, but it’s always a fine idea that many can relate to in one way or another. With “Summering,” one does care enough that these young ladies will be okay by the end—just by default—but the mystery of this dead body is not that compelling as the main focus. As the girls begin seeing the discovered body up and walking around in their wild imaginations, the film even tries dipping its toes into magical realism and supernatural horror with now-you-see-him, now-you-don't jump scares. Clearly, Pondsoldt (who co-wrote the script with Benjamin Percy) has a more natural feel for the intimate, child-eyed scenes that just observe these girls' friendship and their time at home, while the horror-adjacent flourishes feel too elementary and tentative in execution.

The performances by the young performers are fairly uneven. Madalen Mills has the most natural charisma as Dina, and Eden Grace Redfield is cute as the worrisome Mari. As Daisy, Lia Barnett is perfect daughter casting to Lake Bell based on facial resemblance, but some of the young actor’s bigger, more emotional moments aren’t very convincing (and her endlessly florid voice-over narration adds very little insight). The root of the distant relationship between Daisy and her mother being Daisy’s father leaving them is also left underdeveloped when a little more clarity feels necessary. When the adult actors playing these girls’ mothers with different parenting styles—Megan Mullally, as Mari’s helicopter mom; Lake Bell, as Daisy’s uncommunicative policewoman mom with a drinking problem; Ashley Madekwe, as Dina’s cool but education-pushing mom; and Sarah Cooper, as Lola’s New Age painter mom—get together, the film feels more interesting and affecting. It's just too bad the whole film didn't just leave the body alone and just center on these four women and their daughters.

No one can blame James Pondsoldt for wanting to make a lovely sleepover movie for his daughter or anyone who was once a curious kid enjoying the end of summer. The story's timeless nature is also appealing; there are cell phones, one of which ends up getting run over by a truck anyway, but these girls refreshingly don't spend their summer days making TikTok videos. The intent behind the pleasant, blandly middle-of-the-road “Summering” couldn't be more earnest, and there are some nice performances, but this was better back then—when it was called “Now and Then,” an underrated 1995 gem—compared to now.

Grade: C

Bleecker Street is releasing “Summering” (85 min.) in theaters on August 12, 2022.