Griffin In Summer Movie Review (2024)

A coming-of-age story about an aspiring young playwright gathering inspiration from the people around him while trying to stage his latest work, Griffin in Summer is a sweet and engaging film, with a simple story, likable characters, and thoughtful lessons about growing up.

I have always been a theatre kid. When I was around 7 years old, I would gather all my cousins and friends at family gatherings, plan a show for the adults, and hand out tickets. As I got further into elementary school, I found other kids like myself. Together, we planned various scenes or productions that we would ask to perform in school. We held auditions for a production of Grease that we intended to perform (although it never happened) and got heavily into planning a production of Little Shop Of Horrors, full with costumes and scripts. It was fun, and it kept us all busy.

Griffin In Summer is about a 14-year-old Griffin, an aspiring playwright who gets his friends together to perform a production over the summer. This is not the first one they’ve done, so Griffin’s friends are familiar with the demanding rehearsal schedule, even as they want to have some fun during the warm weather. Reluctantly agreeing and with more time on his hands, Griffin becomes friends with Brad, the handyman his mom has hired, and his focus begins to take a new direction.

This is a low-key indie film that feels geared towards tweens but can be enjoyed by people of any age. While Griffin is the main character, and most younger viewers will relate to him and/or his friends, being a little older myself, I was also curious about Brad’s backstory and the side story involving tension in Griffin’s parents’ marriage.

There are some familiar faces in this movie (including Melanie Lynskey, Owen Teague, Kathryn Newton, and Abby Ryder Fortson), but Everett Blunck’s Griffin is quite the character. I wasn’t familiar with Blunck before this film, although I’m glad I know him now. Griffin is a very typical 14-year-old in that he is self-involved and driven by his own path, but he is also precocious and more impressionable than he might have thought.

Griffin In Summer is an uncomplicated family film about a young man who takes an interest in a twenty-something guy with his own issues, but it is earnest. And being the theatre kid that I am inside, I have never seen a film that addressed learning to see the world outside of yourself with such a heavy theatrical hand. I enjoyed it.

Runtime: 93 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: NR (I would say around PG)

Languages Spoken In The Film: English

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 3/5 Stars

Available: Free on Hulu and Disney+, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms