Summer's End
2024 · 20m · USA
Directed by Grant Conversano, Adam Conversano
Genres: coming-of-age, drama, LGBTQ+
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
When a troubled young man discovers his father's secret double life through a dating app, he must confront the parallels between his own destructive patterns and his father's alcoholism and infidelity, set against the contradictions of Myrtle Beach in summer.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The Conversanos find the Southern Gothic in Myrtle Beach's contradiction — cotton candy and Confederate flags — and build a queer family film that refuses the catharsis of confrontation, which is exactly why it lands.
Twenty minutes, Myrtle Beach, dating-app-reveals-father's-double-life, Maria Dizzia and Michael Abbott Jr. The Gabor Maté addiction-is-inherited-suffering thesis is interesting but a heavy frame for a short — Moonlight and Waves comparisons are the kind of self-flattering reach that worries me.
The Conversano brothers structure around inherited suffering cycles, Gabor Maté-inflected — the villain is never quite the villain, generating moral ambiguity rare in queer family drama. Maria Dizzia and Michael Abbott Jr. anchor it.
Reviews
A powerful and well-made short film about a dysfunctional family — understated, with great direction and editing, and fine performances all around.
Festivals
- HollyShorts Film Festival 2024
- Macon Film Festival 2024, Best LGBTQ Short
- Hub City Film Festival 2024, Best Actor, Best Cinematography