The Last Summer
Netflix’s The Last Summer is a hodgepodge of better teen movies, failing to say anything new or poignant about the transitionary period to adulthood.
After the winner of teen - geared romantic clowning likeThe Kissing BoothandTo All the Boys I ’ve Loved Beforein 2018 , Netflix has plunk into producing more such movies in 2019 . The previous of these isThe Last Summer , an ensemble young grownup rom - com set over a specific length of time in the vein of Garry Marshall’sValentine ’s DayandNew Year ’s Eve . However , while those moving picture were fix over the course of a single day , The Last Summerchronicles the final summer for a group of high school alumna in Chicago as they prepare to set off for college . Netflix’sThe Last Summeris a hodgepodge of better adolescent picture show , failing to say anything new or poignant about the transitionary period to maturity .
The Last Summeris an overstuffed supporting players , with small connective tissue aside from the fact that all the character live in Chicago , recently graduated high school and some are friends with each other . There ’s Griffin ( KJ Apa ) and Phoebe ( Maia Mitchell ) , who reconnect after Griffin return from prep school for the summer and helps Phoebe with a documentary she ’s working on . There ’s also Alec ( Jacob Latimore ) and Erin ( Halston Sage ) , who break up to avoid the trouble of a long - distance kinship once they start college , and then both start dating new people : Paige ( Gage Golightly ) and Ricky ( Tyler Posey ) , respectively . Meanwhile , Alec ’s friend Foster ( Wolfgang Novogratz ) has a hook - up list as his summer goals , while Erin ’s undecomposed admirer Audrey ( Sosie Bacon ) babysits a minor actress . Then there ’s also the two token nerd of the pic , Reece ( Mario Revolori ) and Chad ( Jacob McCarthy ) , who find adoption in an adult setting .
Directed by William Bindley ( Madison , Mother ’s Day ) from a handwriting he co - wrote with his brother Scott Bindley ( The Nut Job 2 : Nutty by Nature),The Last Summerattempts to tell multiple coming - of - eld and wild-eyed storylines within the confines of a two - hour movie . But with the film unfold out across so many storylines , it give out to dig too deep into any one of its characters , barely developing some of them beyond a one - dimensional stereotype . But even then , the teen characters seem to be based on pilot from the ' 80s , givingThe Last Summera tone that palpate far removed from present day . Similarly , the various storylines feel pulled from definitive adolescent comedies , especially when it comes to the " nerds " Reece and Chad . They bewail their outsider status but in the end find their topographic point - through a great deal of lie and illegal minor drinking . It comprise the same tired subject matter that even if you ’re an outsider in eminent schoolhouse , you may find acceptation in adulthood , but it does n’t take into account how high schooling has changed over the last 30 year .
That disconnect between how mellow schooling was portray by Hollywood in the ' 80s versus how high school actually is for teens now permeatesThe Last Summer . for sure , there are aspect of high schooling that never change , like the fact that there are always some scholar who are more popular than others . But even whenThe Last Summerattempts to address more modern facets of high school and develop up - like the assumption everyone will go to college or the difficulty of staying in a romantic kinship despite all the technology to assist hoi polloi keep in touch - it ’s half - baked and comes across as patronizing . Nothing epitomizes this as much as Phoebe ’s documentary , the focus of which is never truly explain , beyond some vague hints that it ’s about the transition from high school to college . Similarly , The Last Summerseems to require to say something affecting about add up of age in an era where going to college is expected , but it becomes clean the Bindleys do n’t in reality know what it ’s like to be a stripling in this day and years .
As a issue , The Last Summerhas quite the gifted roll of young performer -Riverdale’sApa , Good Trouble’sMitchell , Teen Wolf’sPosey , to name just a few - but even their collective magical spell ca n’t save the film from becoming a slog . As the default leads , Apa and Mitchell ostensibly have the most compelling textile , but their story and arcs follow predictable rom - com archetypes , much like all the other stories and characters in the movie . Further , the female grapheme ofThe Last Summerare bafflingly compose , largely only found in their relationships to the male characters ( with the sole exclusion of Audrey , whose discharge still falls back on stereotype ) . Still , while the secret plan lines may not be entirely new or engaging and the characters lack much deepness , the actor are sympathetic enough to dribble the celluloid through . It ’s smart to packThe Last Summerfull of young superstar who have fans in their own right hand , since there ’s little draw to the movie beyond its teen actors .
finally , The Last Summermay be worth a sentry for those seem for a low - loyalty summer pass - stylus movie in Netflix ’s library . It ’ll be more enjoyable for looker who are already fans of Apa , Mitchell and Posey , since they have a bun in the oven the pic through , but is by no means a must - watch - even for their rooter . In fact , there ’s nothing peculiarly compelling aboutThe Last Summer , and viewers may be well serve up watching one of the teenage classic it draws inspiration from . Though Netflix cover to invoke to rom - com fan , The Last Summerisn’t bound to be the streaming service ’s next big hit ; alternatively , it seems poised to burn raging and flame out cursorily , much like a summer romance .
Trailer
The Last Summeris now streaming Netflix . It is 109 instant long .
The Last Summer is a coming - of - age romantic comedy that pursue a group of recent high shoal graduate in Chicago as they pilot their terminal summertime before college . Directed by William Bindley , the plastic film features an ensemble cast , let in KJ Apa and Maia Mitchell , exploring themes of friendly relationship , love , and the uncertainties of the futurity during this polar transitional menstruation .
Mario Revolori and Jacob McCarthy in The Last Summer
Sosie Bacon, Halston Sage and Tyler Posey in The Last Summer
