‘Hell of a Summer’ review: Summertime blues

Hell of a Summer has a variety of personalities and jokes, but Finn Wolfhard’s directorial debut is missing some momentum.

Why can’t the people who make the previews also make the movie? Hell of a Summer is the writing and directing feature debut for actors Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard, who also play characters in their movie. Unaware that a killer is prowling the grounds of Camp Pineway and eliminating the staff, the counselors arrive before summer camp starts. Will they find the real killer or be too distracted with their biases and agendas to survive?

Campy characters.

Jason (Fred Hechinger) is the closest character who could be called a protagonist. The twenty-something would’ve thrived in the 70s when men were allowed to find professions that were optimistic and childlike. A golden era of freewheeling fellas never having to grow up and ruin the vibe by becoming male predators. Jason doesn’t belong anywhere, yet he’s earnest, kind, and not ready to leave the safety of his known world to become a functional adult, so he clings to working as a camp counselor. Claire (Abby Quinn) exists to be the only person who is willing to socialize with him despite being aware of how arrested his development is.

The next pair introduced are Shannon (Krista Nazaire) and Ari (Daniel Gravelle). Ari is trying to impress her with his screenplay despite his allergy to nuts, making for one of the funnier gags throughout Hell of a Summer. Shannon seems game until Chris (Wolfhard) and Bobby (Bryk) arrive. They make a love triangle of sorts, except Shannon and Chris (who majors in gender studies) are into each other, and Bobby is jealous of sharing Chris. Bobby is desperately trying to prove his worth through others. Once the slashing starts, he wonders why he’s not higher on the murder list. Bobby may have been a better character to make gay, because then he would have a credible reason for his rivalry with Shannon (which never works) and when he meets the killer, his reaction to the killer would have been funnier instead of hitting the disappointing “no homo” humor.

The allegedly most conventionally hot pair in Hell of a Summer is Demi (Pardis Saremi), who is entitled and has an online following, and Mike (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the guy who is constantly going, “Wooooo, let’s get f***ed up!” If he has other qualities, they don’t get showcased here. Miley (Julia Doyle) is vegan, which defines her entire identity, which could be realistic. Noelle presents as Goth and has not nailed her alleged clairvoyant powers. There is a one-man show who represents an instantly recognizable archetype to anyone alive: theater kid, Ezra (Matthew Finlan). He gets the best lines and it’s criminal that he has no one to truly play against, then is made to act in ways that do not seem aligned with theater kid ethics.

Hollow horrors.

Hell of a Summer feels like a horror spoof movie without aiming to be one, or at least not be fully conscious of it. Elements of its story allegedly overlaps with Bloody Summer Camp, and not just because it’s a slasher film. The kills are mostly anemic except for one clever, tailor-made weapon choice. The killer does nothing to stand out in the field of maniacs who menace camp counselors. The competition is stiff, literally and figuratively, and after In a Violent Nature elevated the genre without sacrificing pints, this entry is disappointing. As a horror entry, it barely deserves to be on a 2025 list.

The story doesn’t go anywhere. Bryk and Wolfhard created these characters to make fun of them like a series of skits, not because they like any of them. The characters need to be more memorable and innately dynamic to make an ensemble but the actors have nothing to work with. Jason is supposedly our main character, but Bobby leaves more of an impression despite having a fate as ill-defined as his self-esteem. If you watch Hell of a Summer, ask yourself if you learned more about the characters at the end of the movie than you did going into the movie. How did this experience change them? A Minecraft Movie is torture if you don’t play the game, but at least most of those characters grew from their experiences.

Bryk and Wolfhard seemingly have a great personal and professional relationship, but that chemistry doesn’t translate to the screen in their characters or in the work. The audience won’t root for an individual or a relationship, though the characters aren’t repugnant enough to be worthy of slasher movie kills. Moviegoers will be rooting for something happening that will be more than a measured expression of mirth. Hell of a Summer is funny, but not funny enough to compete with comedies currently in theaters.

The pair are better directors than writers, so their next project may be better if they stay behind the camera. The main credit may need to go to editor Christine Armstrong for cobbling everything together. Hell of a Summer frequently cuts between showing something from the killer’s perspective and cutting to an arrow ready for launch. The viewer anticipates that it’s the killer making the move, only to reveal that the archer is someone else. There are a lot of misdirects, which aligns thematically with the film’s constant baiting and switching between identifying killers and victims. It’s some nice craftsmanship linking the story with the visuals.

The bottom line.

Hell of a Summer is not a strong way to come out of the gate as a screenwriter or director, but it’s not the worst film out there. It’s the kind of film that you watch at matinee prices on a Tuesday, or if you have a free ticket. One reason to see Hell of a Summer in theaters: the filmmakers didn’t test the film on multiple types of screens, and depending on the device that you stream it, the nighttime scenes are inscrutable and a lot of material is lost. In the twenty-first century, every filmmaker should make a film and test it on a variety of screens (television, desktop computers, laptops, phone) before letting it out of production. Hopefully Bryk and Wolfhard learn that lesson before their next summer of shooting scenes.

Hell of a Summer is now playing in select theaters. Watch the trailer here.

Images courtesy of Neon. Read more articles by Sarah G. Vincent here.

Sarah G. Vincent

Originally from NYC, freelance writer Sarah G. Vincent arrived in Cambridge in 1993 and was introduced to the world of repertory cinema while working at the Harvard Film Archives. Her work has appeared in Cambridge Day, newspapers, law journals, review websites and her blog, sarahgvincentviews.com.