My First Summer

It has become impossible for me not to compare WLW films to each other at this point. Almost always, when comparing films, whichever film was released first gets my seal of approval. After all, similar films released later must be nothing but uninspired knock-offs. Not with today’s entry. 2020’s My First Summer really reminded me of 2015’s Fear of Water, right down to the aquaphobia. Except that My First Summer is superior in every way.

My First Summer is a coming-of-age film set in the summer. So, it’s actually similar to a boatload of films. What really works about My First Summer is that the characters and setting have a lot more specificity. The shy, introspective girl of the film is Claudia. Instead of just making her quiet and calling it a day, she’s got a weird set of circumstances. Claudia’s mother raised her in isolation from the big, bad scary world. Now 16, Claudia is alone on the property following the death of her mother. Her total isolation is interrupted by Grace, a fellow teen with a much more normal set of circumstances. Rebellious and in a spot of trouble, Grace finds sanctuary in Claudia’s remote world.

Initially, I was concerned about how this film would turn romantic. Sheltered as Claudia is, she lacks not just experience but a level of knowledge on many subjects, including romance. The film does a great job of depicting a character who is inexperienced and naive, but grows over the course of the film to the point where her sharing a kiss with a fellow teen seems not just fine, but a positive step in her development. The relationship isn’t wholly lopsided, either. Grace is more worldly but that doesn’t mean she has nothing to learn from Claudia.

My First Summer is incredibly sensitive in its depiction of teen development and sexuality. The film clearly takes this topic very seriously and there’s a clear drive to do right by its subjects. This is great to see. Teen romances are a very common genre for films. And that often leads to a lot of laziness and things taken as given. My First Summer really thinks about each moment and how to depict it. This leads to one of the best first time scenes I’ve seen in a movie. Claudia and Grace’s first time together is full of nerves, laughter and explicit communication. It’s a scene of small yet meaningful details. It’s not a particularly explicit scene either. It cuts away before anything really happens. Like everything in the film, this scene is handled sensitively, delicately and immaculately.

Truly, if you want to see a worse version of this movie (I don’t know why you would), just watch Fear of Water. My First Summer is so successful at doing the same things it makes me want to re-edit my review of Fear of Water and bump its rating down. While that movie had extraordinarily flat characters, their counterparts in My First Summer are vibrant, individual and engaging. The directing also lends to a really strong sense of atmosphere and some really beautiful shots. And on top of everything else, My First Summer is a whole 20 minutes shorter. It has more plot than Fear of Water but fits it into a much shorter running time. It’s the superior movie.

Coming-of-age films set in summer are crazy common. My First Summer stands out because it’s good and has memorable characters. That second point is the real surprise. Even other WLW coming-of-age films I like such as Summer of Sangaile have nice directing, but flat and often interchangeable characters. In a mere 80 minutes, My First Summer features good directing and some lead teenagers who actually have unique experiences and personality traits. It makes it much easier to care about fictional people when they have a personality and stuff. So, excellent work My First Summer for doing something even some of the good WLW coming-of-age films sometimes don’t manage.

Overall rating: 7.2/10

Other WLW films in similar genres