Review: The Kings of Summer

The Kings of Summer is about two friends who move away from their oppressive parents (mind-numbingly embarrassing in one case, fascistically strict in the other) by building and living in a house in the wilderness. Once there, the duo are joined by a machete-wielding Buddha-like Italian or Spanish (it’s not that clear which) kid, who is allowed to stay because they ‘don’t know what he’s capable of’. Cue friendship testing and affirming moments, joyful tastes of freedom, hardships and the realities of life, and anguished parents.

From the beginning it is obvious that this is a quirky indie film, with kids in old t-shirts who play acoustic guitars. The folksy soundtrack and unorthodox shooting style are obviously present, adding to the off-tempo story. There are several clichés and motifs already present in cinema – living in the wild, three friends mucking about, cringeworthy high-school moments.

But for all that, The Kings of Summer is a lot better it could be. It is entertaining and highly amusing, the light touches of humour keeping the whole project pleasurable without belittling its gravitas. The actors are all proficient at delivering genuinely comic lines (Megan Mullally from Will & Grace especially).

Ultimately the thing is a metaphor – the realities of building a house and living in the wild are wildly unrealistic. I suspect that the writer conceived the theme before the actual plot, as opposed to wanting to write a story about kids in the wilderness. Instead, the viewer is watching a parable about those formative teenage years – moving away from family, testing friendships, growing up, getting out into the world, dealing with its problems. It’s a nice way of doing it, because it gives a more driving direction to the plot whilst retaining the key themes that we all understand.

Overall The Kings of Summer is funny and warm, significantly more so than other films billed as ‘comedies’, and there is a kind of reckless silliness that makes up for any creative shortcomings.