Where to watch Summertime online

Storyline

Over the course of a hot summer day in Los Angeles, the lives of 25 young Angelinos intersect. A skating guitarist, a tagger, two wannabe rappers, an exasperated fast-food worker, a limo driver—they all weave in and out of each other's stories. Through poetry they express life, love, heartache, family, home, and fear. One of them just wants to find someplace that still serves good cheeseburgers.

Released

2021-07-09
Revenue

n/a
Budget

n/a
Runtime

1hr 35m
Genre

Comedy, Drama, Music
Status

Released
Language

English
6.3
Production

Little Ugly, Good Deed Entertainment

Crew

Carlos López Estrada

Director

Paolina Acuña-González

Screenplay

Kimberly Stuckwisch

Producer

Keywords:

poetry los angeles, california spoken word ensemble cast

Stream and watch Summertime

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Cast

Austin Antoine

Rah

Marquesha Babers

Marquesha

Bryce Banks

Anewbyss

Bene't Benton

Bene't

Amaya Blankenship

Amaya

Caedmon Branch

Sam

Mila Cuda

Mila

Gabriela de Luna

Alejandra (Paulina's mother)

Joel Dupont

Walter Finnie Jr.

Walter

Alyssa Kim

Diane

Gordon Ip

Gordon

Maia Mayor

Sophia

Anna Osuna

Anna

Sun Park

Hayun

Sophia Thomas

Sam's Mom

Tyris Winter

Tyris

Gihee Hong

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Summertime

A Review by screenzealots 8

Written by screenzealots on 2020-03-27

In 2018, the film world was introduced to exciting new director Carlos López Estrada and his best-of-the-year movie, “Blindspotting.” Expect... read more

In 2018, the film world was introduced to exciting new director Carlos López Estrada and his best-of-the-year movie, “Blindspotting.” Expectations for filmmakers as talented as Estrada can feel insurmountable, but “Summertime,” his sophomore feature film, is a wildly successful storytelling experiment of performance art and spoken word poetry. On the surface it sounds like an arduous undertaking, but somehow it turns out to be the epitome of indie cinema: an ego-less artistic collaboration with zero phoniness. Over the course of a summer day in Los Angeles, the lives of 25 teenagers intersect. There isn’t much plot to speak of, as a loose narrative weaves all of the stories together. The story is told through spoken-word poetry, all written and performed by the amateur cast (including Tyris Winter, Marquesha Babers, Mila Cuda, Austin Antoine, Gordon Ip, Maia Mayor, and Walter Finnie Jr.). These aren’t actors but artists, and the film a vehicle to share their authentic voices. The cast is appealing with big personalities and even bigger lyrical talents, and their poems are deeply rooted in place and experience. These diverse young artists are all from and live in Los Angeles, and they offer an unfiltered, unpolished, and raw perspective that comes from the soul. It’s deeply meaningful how they interconnect art with their city, and their vibrant voices are ones that the world needs to hear. Surprisingly, the movie flows seamlessly and doesn’t feel gimmicky (despite a choppy start and a brief lag in the middle). This experiment could’ve (and likely should’ve) gone the wrong way fast, but somehow all the pieces come together and the cast and crew manages to pull it off. It’s a winning combination of a visionary director paired with young artists speaking their truth, and the film’s flaws make it all the more powerful. The film unmasks the impassioned cries of hope and frustration from a young generation through their urban poetry, and it’s as inspiring as it is complicated. “Summertime” is what effective art is all about.