Daisy (Lia Barnett), Dina (Madalen Mills), Mari (Eden Grace Redfield), and Lola (Sanai Victoria) are apparently four separate characters, but who can tell, really? The 11-year-olds are on the cusp of middle school, and they\u2019re eager to spend their last week of summer together. However, a surprising discovery near the woody haven they\u2019ve called \u201cTerabithia\u201d at once brings them closer to each other and farther from childhood innocence. They keep the secret of what they\u2019ve found from their parents, determined to solve the mystery on their own and wring out their last moments together before they start at different schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These supposedly central characters are distinguished less by their own personalities and more by their mothers\u2019 likes and emotions. Part of the fun of these types of movies for kids\u2014 Stand by Me<\/em>, The Goonies<\/em>, Now and Then<\/em> \u2014 is picking whom you most identify with, but there\u2019s little for young audiences to latch on to, other than which kid has the free-spirited arty mom (Sarah Cooper), the overprotective mom (Megan Mullally), the emotionally distant mom (Lake Bell), or the smart-but-CSI<\/em>-loving mom (Ashley Madekwe). At 11, these girls are at the age where they should be starting to establish who they are apart from their parents, but Summering<\/em> only allows them to be extensions of their mothers when it allows them to be anything at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, the film itself doesn\u2019t know what kind of movie it wants to be or who it\u2019s for, leaving Summering<\/em> somewhere in the insipid middle ground. Fantasy and horror elements creep in along the edges, but it never fully coheres, with each of these interludes feeling like they\u2019re from another film entirely. The film lacks definition; it\u2019s neither funny nor thrilling, charming nor scary, nostalgic nor of the moment. It\u2019s bland, featureless, and somehow far too long at less than 90 minutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before his disastrous adaptation of The Circle<\/em>, Ponsoldt was known for tender, character-driven films. The End of the Tour<\/em> and The Spectacular Now<\/em> are anchored by strong acting, emotional depth, and capable filmmaking. Summering<\/em> feels like it was made by someone else entirely, with its fumbling of its big ideas, as well as its amateur execution in both its central performances and its awkward, ill-timed editing. This marks another step backward for the director, rather than the return to form that was its likely intent. In a move that feels reminiscent of his earlier work, Ponsoldt attempts to deal in darker, deeper themes, refusing to take the anodyne route that most kids and family movies do this century. Yet while Summering<\/em> centers suicide, it merely glances at the issue, leaving more questions than answers for both its characters and its audience, which doesn\u2019t seem like the lesson it intends to impart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With its rare focus on girls\u2019 friendship and growing up, Summering<\/em> has good intentions but that never actually makes it a good movie. Girls are owed their own Stand by Me<\/em>, but they deserve so much better than this. “Summering” is in theaters Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Summering2-scaled-1024x429.jpg\")
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