Directed by a trio of filmmakers who all joint-directed the retro-heavy Turbo Kid back in 2015, Summer of 84 is another film designed to service the 80s fetishization crowd. Some of these films I find to be genuinely good, like The Editor or It Follows, while others prove to be more interesting in concept but lacking a little in execution, much like The Guest or The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. And then there's the one note, uninspired, and just plain lousy film club populated by the likes of Kung Fury and, sigh, Turbo Kid. So where exactly does this leave Summer of 84?
This is where my thoughts began to wrestle with one another. Summer of 84 isn't a "bad" movie. It's really not. It's funny, it's compelling, and it has heart. It's an entertaining romp that combines the ragtag adventurousness of The Goonies, the innocence of Stranger Things, and the lurking dangers and banality of Fright Night's suburbia. It has the pulsating synth score, the arcade machines and the clothing accessories. Yet the key ingredient here is still Stranger Things. Would this movie even exist without the smash-hit television show? Probably not. Is that okay? Honestly, yes. Yes it is.
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You see, a cultural canon is more than just a template for how to create an effective piece of art: it also serves as a barometer for what we think will stand the test of time. Some filmmakers utilize this to create elevated pieces of dread that simultaneously pays homage to the greats while still treading new ground, much like David Robert Mitchell's It Follows. Others setup their tape decks to create a mixtape that serves solely as a compilation of what came before it and this might be the best way to describe Summer of 84: it is, without a doubt, a mixtape movie. There's no pretentiousness here. No claims of being the most frightening movie you'll ever see or the most challenging. This movie is meant to go down easily and bubbly, like the can of soda you would crack open around midnight during the sleepover you were hosting back in junior high school. At some points it feels like low-hanging Stranger Fruits. It's designed to be a hodgepodge of all the elements you find most comforting.
Which is easily apparent when watching this movie. The film is effortlessly easy to follow. There's no puzzle box twists, no complicated subplots, nothing of the sort. The only surprise I felt was the tonal shift presented in the third act of the film. And while this shift almost betrays the tone of the film entirely, I can't help but admire how dark it actually is. Without spoiling too much, it reminded me of The Mist and the incredibly dark left turn that film took (though I guess that reference might spoil it a little, now that I think about it). If one was to draw a map of the direction of the film's plot, it would literally be Point A connecting to Point B and that's it. Roll credits.
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