Grimmfest 2018 - Summer of '84

Directors: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell

Cast: Graham Vercher, Judah Lewis, Caleb Emery, Cory Grüter-Andrew, Tiera Skovbye, Rich Sommer

Synopsis: After suspecting that their police officer neighbour is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.

Grimmfest say: The directors of Turbo Kid continue their obsession with all things 80s, with a film guaranteed to evoke fond childhood memories for anyone who grew up in that decade. Paying deft homage to such much-loved classics as Stand By Me, or The Goonies, in its narrative of a mismatched quartet of 15 year old boys getting involved in crime during a summer holiday, while bickering among one another and mooning over girls, this is nevertheless no mere exercise in misty-eyed nostalgia, or cynical cash-in pastiche. Refreshingly free from postmodern rib-nudging and smugly ironic historical perspective, it offers instead a clear-eyed and surprisingly merciless examination of the often rose-tinted recollections of childhood. And in that respect, more than any other, it really does recapture the spirit of the films it references. A trip down memory lane that will take you to places you'd possibly rather forget.

What I'm Expecting: I'm expecting a film which pays loving homage to the films of the 80s whilst simultaneously dashing the genre's tropes; a sort of The Burbs and Stand By Me mash-up. Summer of '84 will succeed or fail on the strength of its cast and the bond uniting them, as such, this is something the film really needs to get right; more so than any other film genre. Films from the 80s rank amongst some of my favourites: many have a real 'feel-good' quality to them, which is wonderful, but can also feel a little repetitive at times: I'm looking forward to seeing a film set in this fondly remembered decade with more—edge.