Griffin Nafly (Everett Blunk) just isn’t like different 14-year-olds. Consider his contribution to his college’s end-of-the-year expertise present: a snippet of his newest play during which he reads for each lead roles, a disaffected stockbroker and his drunk spouse, as they scream and keep it up about the whole lot from infidelity to abortions. While everybody else is pleased with pop music duets, it’s Griffin — too outdated for his years, too younger to actually break away — who needs to bring some actual art to the suburban stage.
And whereas that may all be OK, even kinda enjoyable, the actual downside isn’t simply that Griffin isn’t like most different 14-year-olds, it’s that he’s not even actually like his closest associates both. While his childhood buddies, together with “Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret” breakout Abbie Ryder Fortson as his long-suffering second-in-command Kara, are transferring into basic younger maturity — discovering handsy boyfriends, getting drunk off one can of onerous seltzer, leaning into their scientific pursuits — Griffin has barely developed since final summer time. Back then, Griffin and co. spent their days readying yet one more one in all his performs for the stage. This yr? He may be going at it alone.
It’s onerous in charge the kiddos for balking at spending their summer time engaged on an outing that Griffin giddily phrases “‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ meets ‘American Beauty.’” Nicholas Colia’s function directorial debut, “Griffin in Summer,” spins off that kind of cheeky humor into what may simply be described as a tween take on “Theater Camp” or, higher but, a model of “Theater Camp” during which the lovable theater geeks at its coronary heart didn’t even have each other to lean on when instances obtained powerful.
Griffin’s mannered, very practically imply way of living — he’s the sort of child who calls his mom, performed by the always-delightful Melanie Lynskey, by her first identify — is beginning to put on skinny (Blunk, nevertheless, stays a captivating breakout star all through). And whereas Colia initially leans into the zaniness of Griffin’s persona and predilections, his script does slowly wind to deeper, extra emotional discoveries. Like, for example, what precisely does Griffin know in regards to the ins and outs of grownup relationships? While the tonal swings that accompany Colia’s story don’t all the time stream with ease and a certain quantity of whiplash takes maintain within the second act, most of the revelations he finds make these points price it.
Such is the case with Colia’s delicate dealing with of the sudden relationship that takes form as Griffin grapples with the possibly bleak summer time forward. Enter: Brad. Played by rising star Owen Teague, the one-time efficiency artist (he was into “happenings,” and oh, what a deal with once we get to see them on a grainy YouTube video) is now a unstable handyman, doomed to spend his personal summer time serving to Griffin’s mother round the home and trying to cobble cash to get again to Bushwick. Initially, Griffin loathes him. And then, nicely, Brad unlocks another emotions in him.
It’s the sort of storyline that’s ripe for missteps, and whereas there are nonetheless moments when audiences would possibly surprise, “Wait, is this funny or is it scary?,” Colia principally sticks what he’s trying. While Brad’s presence stirs new feelings in Griffin — together with abject terror upon the introduction of Brad’s girlfriend, performed by a splendidly unhinged Kathryn Newton — he additionally helps push the younger playwright into contemporary artistic areas. Some of Brad’s affect is purposely foolish (at one level, the male lead of Griffin’s evolving play declares he was a “stock market major” who lives in Bushwick), and the short-term casting of Brad within the precise play is genuinely hilarious.
Colia makes an attempt to tie up his comedic sensibilities and his extra emotional tendencies in a rangy third act. The beats he must hit and the journey he must take Griffin on are anticipated, no less than to finish in a spot befitting the warm-hearted nature of the film, however Colia nonetheless finds some surprises alongside the way in which. As a showcase for his stellar casting skills and knack for heartwarming storytelling, “Griffin in Summer” is a really superb function directorial debut. Even higher, it’d make nerds like Griffin notice one thing that may usually take too lengthy to be taught: they’re actually not alone.
Grade: B
“Griffin in Summer” premiered on the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival. It is at present searching for U.S. distribution.
