WATCH: A queer kid’s complicated bond with their father is at the heart of ‘In The Summers’
In The Summers, an indie drama from first-time feature filmmaker Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio (she/they), which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the top Grand Jury Prize.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Loosely inspired by Samudio’s own childhood, the film takes place in Las Cruces, new Mexico and follows the relationship between two siblings and their father over the course of four pivotal summers.When we first meet young Violeta (Dreya Castillo) and Eva (Luciana Elisa Quinonez), it’s in the parking lot of a small city airport where they awkwardly greet their father Vicente—played by René Pérez Joglar, better known as rapper Residente—who clearly isn’t a big part of their lives.We gradually begin to understand that Violeta and Eva’s parents are separated, but they’ve arranged for the kids to spend their summer vacations with their dad, who clearly loves them but struggles to keep his own life together.As the years pass, each visit is like its own short story, and the children are portrayed by progressively older actors.
But it’s all connected by the ever-evolving dynamic of the family at its center, using beautifully drawn performances to demonstrate how our relationships inform out identity, even our relatives aren’t around.These queer films beautifully delve into complex father (or father figure)-son relationships.One fascinating and subtle way this plays out is through Violeta who, early on, begins displaying more “tomboy” like behavior, especially after meeting Vicente’s bartender friend Carmen (Emma Ramos) who presents a little more butch than femme.Later on, as they get older, Violeta is played by trans-nonbinary actor Lío Mehiel, who had a major breakthrough performance in last year’s indie drama Mutt and will next be seen in Luca Guadagninos’ After The Hunt alongside Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield.
