Griffin in Summer, 2025.
Written and directed by Nicholas Colia.
Starring Everett Blunck, Owen Teague, Abby Ryder Fortson, Kathryn Newton, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Esper, Gabriel J. Perez, Johanna Colón, Gordon Rocks, Ian Hernandez-Oropeza, Aurora Richards, Xavier Wolf, Alivia Bellamy, and Francine Berk.
SYNOPSIS:
Fourteen-year-old Griffin Nafly is the most ambitious playwright of his generation. But once he meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad, his life (and play) will never be the same.
In writer/director Nicholas Colia’s Griffin in Summer, the eponymous lanky 14-year-old boy (played by Everett Blunck with conviction in trying to show the world he is mature and above whatever else boys his age should be doing) isn’t like other teenagers. There is taking an interest in theater and drama, and then there is centering all of summer break around writing an ambitious, thematically heavy play about a broken marriage. It’s also not the boy’s first play, but he is seeking notoriety and chasing greatness as if he is envisioning himself to be the next Tennessee Williams or Oscar Wilde.
Not only do we have movies about tortured white male artists every couple of months, now we are getting them about tortured white teenage boy wannabe artists, demanding obscene levels of professionalism and dedication from his peers and friends who enjoy acting in his plays, but also have other commitments and would also like to, you know, be free and have fun. That last part is something Griffin seems incapable of doing.
With Griffin’s friend and assistant Kara (Abby Ryder Fortson of the phenomenal coming-of-age adaptation Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret?), auditions are held and schedules are curated strictly. The dynamic comes across more as teenagers working adult jobs, more than children expressing artistic creativity and collaborating alongside one another. This is absolutely serious business to Griffin.
On one hand, given how deeply misogynistic Griffin’s script is (which involves a man frequently arguing with the wife he is cheating on and placing blame on her for all sorts of issues), one can’t help but wonder if the whole story is a meta-gag poking fun at male egos and the previously mentioned tortured artist routine. Yes, his writing is forced, corny, and regressive, with the occasional laugh coming at the expense of his misguided approach. However, it also made clear that he is mostly alone and raising himself, with his mother (Melanie Lynskey) overworked and his dad constantly away on work trips.
It’s possible that Griffin sees more of handyman Brad (Owen Teague) than his family. This brings another layer into the film in that it’s also a sexual awakening story, with Griffin attracted to the adult who sometimes roams shirtless while working around the house. It also turns out that Brad is a failed performance artist who moved here from New York, hoping to get back on his feet.
Meanwhile, Griffin is infatuated with Brad and his art, firing his lead to make room for him in this play acting alongside teenagers. He also believes that an inappropriate relationship will form from this, despite his age and Brad already having a “crazy” girlfriend played by Kathryn Newton. As such, Griffin loses sight of his play (Brad wants to incorporate abstract art) and his friends, pushing everyone away without realizing it.
The coming-of-age sexuality material is where Griffin in Summer bites off more than it can chew, eventually going overboard with scenes bafflingly unrealistic for a narrative so grounded in something believable until that point. Even if it’s hard to buy into that any of these other kids would take Griffin’s bossy attitude and strict demands, there is sadness and brokenness within the character that makes its way into his personality and art.
Once his obsession with Brad takes over, though, he simply starts behaving in ways that are both borderline sociopathic and outrageous to buy into, even for a movie (somehow, the 14-year-old boy gets on a plane to New York by himself, and no one notices or assumes something is off). Nevertheless, Griffin learns some lessons about maturity, friendship, the misogyny in his writing, and how to lie back and enjoy being a teenager. It’s a formative summer for him, and passable drama for the rest of us.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
