‘Summer After’ Short Film Review
Stars: Andrea Granera, Deepti Menon, Josh Cox, Mateo Correa, Milly Miles | Written and Directed by Josh Cox
I think it might be harder to make, and get positive reviews, for a short film that isn’t action-packed. It must be a temptation for directors of shorts to fill their time (twenty minutes with Summer After) with fights or gore or big drama. But film-maker Josh Cox has gone for a mellow, coming of age short with his latest film.
Set in 1986, although it’s hard to tell – this isn’t strewn with Eighties film posters or product placement and the clothes then are now trending anyway! 17-year-old Mesa is trying to make it through a summer one year after an impassioned romance with a girl from out of town. Trying to understand herself, reconcile the past and live in the moment, there’s a lot to pack into the short runtime.
The film looks great and has a flow to it that feels as breezy as the film itself. It’s almost relaxing to watch the film. There are parts of it shot outside in fields and you can almost feel the summer breeze as you watch. There’s a slow piano score throughout the short, which accompanies everything 0n-screen nicely.
The acting was enjoyable from all the cast and very natural from all those involved. For a movie that doesn’t have anything in the way of action, it’s perhaps surprising that there’s not a whole lot of dialogue either. But it does work, even if this does come across like the start of something bigger and maybe that’s the point. Summer After could easily be a twenty-minute preview for something bigger. A full feature that covers the summer before and the next year or so after.
Not so long ago I watched a Nineties coming of age Japanese movie called April Story. I loved it and it was a style of movie I’d never really seen before. So it can only be a compliment when I say that Summer After gave me similar vibes. It’s not quite got that heart-warming feel to it and it’s obviously only twenty minutes long but I still enjoyed what it had to offer and would love to see more.
A short, but standalone sequel to 2020s Summer of Mesa, Summer After is available to watch now on Americana Pictures YouTube channel.
