I certainly admire how Jared Isaac approached directing The Autumn Summer, asking his cast to live in the same house while filming went on, so they could develop a deeper connection that feels like more than actors acting, but a lived in familial experience. If it weren’t for Isaac also getting such length out of the production value of his indie film, I’d be convinced many scenes in this were family and friends just existing in the same space and enjoying the tail end of summer together. He reportedly also encouraged improvisation, or at least actors to respond to each other in the moment, instead of forcing a rigidity within the screenplay.But an admiration in the attempt does not a great movie make.

I had a hard time with The Autumn Summer, because to say it is bad is nonsense, but in a world where we have lost the grey area between things, where a simple shrug, or “it was alright, I guess” doesn’t suffice, and that’s aobut as motivated as I would be to recommend this, which is why I leaned the other way in this binary world of Fresh/Rotten. it has to be one or the other, and truthfully, watching a film nearly void of a plot is a hard sell. Not only did I not love it myself, I couldn’t tell you what the film was actually about beyond buzzwords, and I’m not sure who this film is for. Those who are really into indie dramas will likely clock that the film is set in the affluent upper Michigan area, with a group of individuals seemingly spared life’s greatest challenges, having the biggest conflict be that our two leads, Kevin (Mark McKenna) and Cody (Lukita Maxwell) trying to figure out where their relationship goes once they venture to different colleges. Maxwell, who has been a standout on Shrinking for three seasons as Alice, was the draw for me here. I feel like her work on Shrinking is screaming future breakout star, yet this indie drama doesn’t utilize her to full effect. Part of that is the lack of dramatic range, and this near ethereal feeling of summer perfection it tries to achieve, and the other is that the movie just isn’t pushed much beyond achieving a naturalistic tone. Truth be told, I had a bit of a hard time falling for Christmas Eve At Millers Point too, which is the closest comparison I can think of, where the plot is the experience. For that film, Christmas itself was the lead, and the movie worked in a way that it made for a potential virtual reality watch, like you are a member of the family moving from room to room. Here, you’d be eavesdropping on this tight knit cast, and overhearing conversations and musings. It’s just not quite as interesting.

Again, what Isaac went for here, shows he has style, and can direct on a budget, but he needed a script to actually do something. This is a film that has limited appeal because the majority of audiences prefer forward momentum in narrative storytelling. However, his capturing of innocence on the brink of being lost is the kind of audition for the next Summer I Turned Pretty, a show about youth that mostly have money to spend, no major life problems, and can sit around and fret over love triangles and college admissions. If We Were Liars wasn’t trying to be such a dark twisty show sometimes, he’d be the perfect person to turn that show into another beach read turned TV hit.

An Autumn Summer is a valiant effort in direction, a lovely capture of a moment in time before it is gone forever, but the momentum is non-existent, and the threadbare plot ultimately makes this a tough film to recommend.

Rotten: 5.9/10