Written, directed, and led by Billy Bryk as Bobby and Finn Wolfhard as Chris, the coming-of-age comedy HELL OF A SUMMER also stars Fred Hechinger as Jason, Abby Quinn as Claire, Krista Nazaire as Shannon, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mike, and Pardis Saremi as Demi being Bryk and Wolfhard’s directorial debute. The movie, set at Camp Pineway before it opens to campers, mainly follows Jason, a 24-year-old camp counselor trying to fit in with his teenage co-workers, which only gets more challenging when a masked killer begins to slaughter them one by one.
Cherishing the authenticity of youth and friendship in films such as Superbad, Bottle Rocket, or Shaun of the Dead, Bryk, and Wolfhard desired to create a witty, dark comedy about youth and stupidity.
“We found comfort in the idea… HELL OF A SUMMER is a movie about being young. And sometimes dumbasses,” said Bryk and Wolfhard.
We saw this as a pleasantly decent directorial debut. There were many laughs inside the theater. It was silly, charming, and an overall enjoyable experience! Although there are many flaws in the film, there are also many strengths. It’s not meant to be a Lynchian masterpiece, it’s a fun flick to laugh at with friends. It’s about placing yourself in one of the characters, knowing that you probably, unfortunately, would act the same way in that situation.
However, placing yourself in one of the characters might be a little tricky. With the one-hour and twenty-eight-minute run time, Bryk and Wolfhard struggled to form audience attachment to the large cast of characters. When you did learn something about their personalities and experiences, it often didn’t register due to the punchy, sarcastic dialogue; the lines that fleshed out the characters felt like afterthoughts, leaving the audience scrambling to grasp them.
HELL OF A SUMMER played off the trope where all of the characters were stereotypes, and while it was amusing most of the time, it felt stale. It seemed as if it didn’t belong to them. Obviously, the writing process almost always involves drawing inspiration from existing works, as noted by Bryk and Wolfhard, but they fell short of making it their own. The comedy was well-crafted and stood out as the highlight of the piece; however, the characters seemed underdeveloped, and there were several plot inconsistencies.
On the more positive side, one of the most entertaining aspects of the movie was the recurring joke where Bobby, the player who gets no play, believed that the masked killer was killing people in order of attractiveness. To fight against his insecurity, he kept trying to prove to everyone, even though they never believed it in the first place, that it wasn’t true. When they were making a video to leave for everyone if they all died, and everyone was saying heartfelt messages, it cut to Bobby insisting that the order of killings was completely arbitrary and that nobody should put any thought into it.
However, one of the most disappointing parts of the movie was the climax, where the big reveal is, which felt completely underwhelming. The motive also felt cursory, because we saw so little of the perpetrators at the beginning of the movie. The moment was presented in such a casual manner and seemed so out of place that it was hard to place its significance. You might find yourself questioning whether that was the real twist or just another gag.
3/5 stars.
It’s a great time with friends, but don’t put too much thought into the storyline. You’ll be left wanting more.
Despite our criticism, we find it thrilling to see new, enthusiastic writers enter the industry. It’s a nice place to start and serves as a valuable learning opportunity. After dedicating four years and a considerable amount of effort, Bryk and Wolfhard should be proud of their work. Although it doesn’t quite measure up to the iconic status of Superbad, it effectively captures the laughable reality that young people can often be, in their words, dumbasses.
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