Speak Now Storyteller

Summary: The counselors of a summer camp are terrorized by a masked killer.

Pros:

Cast and Characters. There are a lot of characters in this movie and I’m not going to hit on all of them in super detail, but I think all of the characters are fun. There’s no one who stands out to me as being unfunny or over the top or particularly a “bad actor”. I think everyone plays their parts well and I think most of the characters fit into the usual teen slasher tropes, especially in a Gen-Z world. I feel like they all react to things the way young people would these days.

• Fred Hechinger as Jason. He’s a returning counselor but against his mother’s wishes. He’s 24 and she wants him to do a law internship but he finds fulfillment in working at this summer camp, that he’s worked at many times in the past. He wants to be a leader to this group of young counselors but they don’t take him super seriously but he’s trying. He continues to try throughout the movie. I’ve never seen Fred Hechinger in anything but I think he’s the strongest actor in the cast but he was sweet in the role, very awkward and sad at times, like you’re sympathetic for him. I think he plays that well.
• Abby Quinn as Claire. She’s the “every girl” type I guess. She has a sad disposition about her but she’s fine. She and Jason seemed to have a little connection in the past and that connection continues. They lean on each other the most. She’s likable and has a really good sequence during the climax.
• Billy Bryk as Bobby. He’s definitely the “insufferable” one where everyone lowkey dislikes him except for his best friend Chris. He has the most things to say. He’s often spurred by bravado but doesn’t always follow through. When things start popping off and the group starts spouting out theories, he gets hung up on the motives of the killers but not because he cares about the others, but because of selfish reasons. He definitely had me cracking up a few times. Billy Bryk is one of the directors but I think he does a good job in his role. He definitely chose one of the most fun roles. He had good chemistry with Finn Wolfhard which is important being that their characters are best friends.
• Finn Wolfhard as Chris. Chris is a little uptight, very clean cut. He wears a robe at night lol. He wants to pour water from plastic bottles into glasses and serve them on a tray lol. He’s overall sweet, probably one of the nicer of the counselors. He cares about Bobby, even though he knows his bestie is a bit of an asshole lol. He has good chemistry with Bobby and another character. I particularly came to this movie for him as I enjoy him and I like to support young actors I like and their work. I like Finn Wolfhard and I think he does a good job as Chris. He’s the other half of the directing duo and maybe due to him being on IT and Stranger Things, there’s a clear 80s inspiration with a modern feel.
• Krista Nazaire as Shannon. She’s the only black girl in the group, so I was definitely rooting for her to survive lol. She’s feisty and doesn’t back down from anything. She is the one who suggested going outside to look for their phones and I went, girl no lol. But with her character personality, it makes sense she would suggest that. I thought she had good chemistry with another character.
• D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as Mike. I think he’s so cute and very dynamic to watch on screen. I’d like to see him more.
• Matthew Finlan as Ezra. He’s one of my favorites because he was just fun to watch and I think got a lot of chuckles out of me. He also has a great sequence in the mess hall.
• Julia Lalonde as Noelle. She’s the girl who’s into the occult stuff and the one to bring out the spirit board at some point in the movie. She seemed sweet and gets more involved once things get going. I liked her. But one of her scenes had me scratching my head even though I get it… but there should have been a little more.
• Daniel Gravelle as Ari, he has some funny lines and I would have liked more of him actually.
• Pardis Saremi as Demi. She rolls up to camp in a white slinky dress, a fancy car and like 50 million suitcases. She seems like she’s the rich girl of the group, always on her phone, like she’s too good for the place. She’s fine.
• Julia Doyle as Miley. She’s the vegan and a lot of her moments are about veganism, which is funny. She’s fine lol.

A Good Time/It’s Funny. I think the humor is very “gen-z” as the characters react to the things way I think (or have seen) young people react to things. Everything doesn’t hit for me, but I can imagine certain groups of people cracking up throughout. There were only 3 of us in the theater when I saw it, and I could hear one other guy chuckling a few times but I think I had the most fun with the movie lol. I can see how Bobby could be considered the funniest character. Jason is pretty funny, especially since everyone makes fun of him and he’s just so gentle and kind but so awkward. Ezra’s delivery worked for him because he got some chuckles out of me. Honestly, every character probably got at least one laugh from me.

Death Sequences. There are some death sequences that were either good in general or were funny. The movie is R but for language and other stuff more so than the violence/gore. etc. Some of the death sequences are cut away from and we see the aftermath. Some of the deaths were creative.

Real Reactions. I think the characters have real life reactions to the things that are happening around them. Immediately casting blame on someone and when that person deflects to someone else because of their interests, everyone immediately is like whoa hey whoa! That made me laugh. Or someone having bear repellent and how it’s talked about used. The conversations are real when it came to the horror stuff but also the regular stuff. I thought that was handled well.

Cons:

Character Depth. I don’t watch many horror, or slasher films so I don’t know if that’s the thing in these particular kinds of movies but I don’t think the characters have much depth to them besides Jason. Maybe that was intentional but since I think all the characters are pretty likable and characters are important to me, I wish we got to know them a little better past their surface level personalities. Especially in the beginning when we’re first meeting everyone. Like why are they there? I also wish we got to know how old everyone was. Jason was the only one we knew at 24. I would assume everyone is between 18-20 and that they’re all returning to the camp but maybe some of them were new as well?

• Jason clearly is running from adulthood and feels special since he was asked to come back specifically.
• Bobby is looking to hook up with girls mostly.
• Chris wants to do the same, but specifically one girl but we learn that a little later.
• Mike? No idea. To see a girl?
• Demi? No idea. She even arrives in a fancy car, a white dress and 50 million suitcases.
• Shannon? No idea. For a boy?
• Ezra is a theater guy so he wants to lead the theater stuff.
• Noelle? No idea lol.
• Ari? He wants to write the play for the theater stuff I guess? Since he was forcing Shannon to read his screenplay.
• Miley… no idea lol.

Story Depth/Killer Motives. The story is mostly fine but there’s not much there in terms of a story. I think it would have been nice if the killings started the next day (or that the first body was discovered the next morning) so we could have gotten to know the counselors a bit more. They’re all a bit insufferable but not so bad that I wanted any of them to die and sometimes there’s always one. Bobby is the most insufferable but he wasn’t so bad that I wanted him to die lol. Ari also could have been it but we didn’t get enough of him really for me to feel that way. We learn the killer’s motives and what not but they don’t really say anything about why these people nor did the movie set up much at the beginning to bolster their motive. The motive was lame but if it was set up better, it could have still been lame but set up better. I went “mmcht” when it was revealed. The killers would also do like a final blow kind of thing and they did it for a few of the deaths but it’s never explained why. It should have been.

• Death Sequences. Even though the movie is R, it’s not really for the death sequences. I think if you’re coming into this for gore, you’re not gonna get that. There’s only one death that I felt was pretty gnarly but it wasn’t even that gnarly lol.

Directing Choices. I think for a debut Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard, they do a good job but there are some moments where their inexperience shows. During the nighttime scenes, it’s hard to see whenever the characters are outside and they are outside a lot. There’s a shot where two characters are looking at something in a hole and while I could tell what was in there, but I would have liked to be able to distinguish the two. There’s a scene in the climax of the film where two characters are fighting and one character’s hair is in their face that you can’t really see their face, I think it should have been pulled back. I know that probably seems so silly but I think with the dialogue, that had me cracking up, I would have liked to have see their face during this sequence.

Overall, I think Hell of a Summer is a good time. I think for a debut from a couple of young filmmakers it has a lot of strengths in there. The characters are probably the strongest aspect of the movie because the actors are all good in their roles. It’s funny and fun to watch and see how these characters react to the things that’s happening around them. I feel like they all had realistic reactions for some young adults. While I think some of the death sequences are fun, there are also some that are lame because the film cuts away and we don’t see what happens to them. Nor do we see what happened to the bodies in the end. I don’t hate the ending but I do wish there was more of a resolution. It just kind of ends. I mean there’s a character the others don’t even get to confirm is dead lol. While I like all the characters I do think the film lacks providing the depth I would have liked from them. This also seeps into the story because I think there was some depth needed, with the characters and their relationship to the camp and to the killers. But in the end, I liked the movie quite a bit.

Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars.

I recommend Hell of a Summer if you’re looking for a teen slasher with some good characters!