In the Summers Review | Deeply Moving Film Explores Fathers & Daughters

Coming off a dual win at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, In the Summers expands into theaters September 20. The U.S. Jury Grand Prize and U.S. Dramatic Directing Award winner is directed, written, and produced by Alessandra Lacorazza, a queer Colombian-American storyteller who so beautifully culls from the depths of their own complex life experiences to stitch together a stunning tapestry that explores parent-child dynamics, shattered dreams, and ultimately forgiveness.

Violeta and Eva reside with their mother, but every summer they trek to New Mexico to spend time with their loving and sharp yet unpredictable father, Vicente (René Pérez Joglar). The film chronicles this alpha male dad and his two daughters over the course of several summers, tracking the kids from adolescence to adulthood. To be sure, that’s an emotionally rich time for young people, but also for the parent featured here, Vicente, a determined yet flawed soul who carries the weight of heartbreak and hope of recovering lost parts of himself.

Drawn out beautifully across four chapters, the movie plays out, in parts, like a fever dream and a fractured fairy tale. It recalls films like Moonlight, Aftersun, and Nomadland. It’s a stunning debut film from Lacorazza, who instantly establishes themself as a prominent talent to watch out for.

René Pérez Joglar in an Award-Worthy Performance

The filmmaker Alessandra could not have asked for a better leading man in René Pérez Joglar. This is one of those powerful performances that can quickly generate attention and spark awards chatter. It’s one of the best performances in film this year and it gives Joglar a clear path to expand his already diverse talents. The man is best known as “Residente,” the multiple award-winning Puerto Rican rapper/writer/filmmaker who won a combination of 31 Grammys and Latin Grammys, collectively. He so fully captures Vicente’s complex persona here that it oftentimes feels as if you’re watching a documentary about a real-life father.

Vicente’s daughters, Violeta and Eva, are played by Dreya Castillo and Luciana Elisa Quiñonez, respectively, in their younger years; Kimaya Thais Limon and Allison Salinas in the middle years; and Sasha Calle and Lío Mehiel as adults. All these actresses hit their marks, creating believable, well-rounded portraits of two siblings coming into their own and often enduring their father’s misgivings. We don’t know much about their mother or Vincente’s past with her, which makes the film even more intriguing. That’s just one of several purposely omitted elements in the tale, which allows these quietly brilliant performances to emotionally paint you a story rather than blatantly tell you one.

Coming of Age In the Summers

We first meet the young girls outside a bus station where they’re waiting for Vicente to pick them up. Clad in a bright yellow jacket, jeans, and sneakers, the man arrives, fighting off a nervous tick. He’s not a guy who can remember significant milestones in their lives, nor is he fully in the know about their schooling or grades. They meet again as strangers only to shake off the distance that has passed since they’d last seen each other. So, the mood is precarious and a tad heavy, but soon enough, we realize this unique family unit has strong ties. They love each other and can adapt to their summer experience.

The filmmaker initially breezes through one scene to the next to capture Vicente and his time with the girls: a home-cooked pasta dinner turns playful, pizza at an amusement park, playing pool at a local pub, stargazing. And yet, there’s always an unsettling emotional stream running through this creative forest. Vicente’s occasional bursts of anger stem, perhaps, from having been a math genius who never found his niche. He clings to the past, hoping to re-establish a long-gone emotional high. It doesn’t work.

It’s no surprise then that smoking, drinking, and occasionally drug use is revealed. Even that presentation is handled with care here, never painting the man to be some kind of loser or monster, if you will. At one point, Vicente takes his older daughter, Violeta, aside and teaches her how to smoke marijuana — with him, and in the safety of the home so that she doesn’t abuse the drug elsewhere. Violeta, in fact, becomes a central focal point on several occasions. When she realizes she is queer, flirtations with new friend Camila (Gabriella Surodjawan) suddenly create a unique dynamic all around. Will papa Vicente accept her as she is?

Fatherhood, Trauma, Addiction, Sexuality, and Forgiveness Converge

It would have been easy to pivot this indie film at that unique juncture and create an altogether different outing that was focused more on Violeta’s path toward liberation, but Alessandra Lacorazza steers away from it to winning ends. Instead, the main pivot comes toward the film’s midpoint when a devastating event changes the course of everybody’s lives.

Once again, the filmmaker opts to sidestep traditional tropes found in surviving traumatic events to present a more believable story. The richness of this tale, then, lies in the average, ordinary, and more relatable moments most families share together. Through its memorable characters, In the Summers also wonderfully captures Latine identity and how it intersects with fatherhood, trauma, addiction, sexuality, and even access to opportunity. In many ways, this is a story about how we survive our parents, and the richness of that very survival.

Watch for how delicately and confidently Lacorazza handles the last summer we see these three people. Some new characters emerge, several that we’ve known reappear. Time has passed, and a moment arrives when each person in the main trio realizes not only who they are, but where they’ve arrived in life. Lacorazza even manages to tack on a bit of mystery in the narrative. It’s truly powerful and sublime work. Ultimately, this film asks: Can we make amends — for missteps, words, and actions? Or will those things forever define who we are as individuals? In The Summers premieres in theaters September 20 from Music Box Films.

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