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| Scene from Hot Summer Nights |
In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for years to come.
Released: July 27, 2018
Release Number: 70
Directed By: Elijah Bynum
Starring: Timothee Chalamet, Maika Monroe, Alex Roe
Plot: In the summer of 1991, a sheltered teenage boy comes of age during a wild summer he spends in Cape Cod getting rich from selling pot to gangsters, falling in love for the first time, partying and eventually realizing that he is in over his head.
Things were heating up that summer as A24 released their highest-grossing movie to date (Hereditary) as well as one of their perfect word-of-mouth success stories (Eighth Grade). It seemed like they were heading towards a terrific end of 2018 as the summer was winding down. While that is somewhat true, director Elijah Bynum's debut Hot Summer Nights was unfortunately not the best example of that. In spite of starring a recent Oscar-nominee in Timothee Chalamet, the film failed to really connect with audiences or gain half the acclaim that their other big directorial debut of the summer, Eighth Grade, did. It was a fine film, but one that continued to show how the DirecTV branch of releases pale in comparison to their main roster. It was a fine movie, though far from the follow-up from Chalamet's work in Lady Bird that they were hoping for.
The story begins for Bynum in college. While the film would earn a "mostly true" moniker, the film was fictionalized from real events. Bynum knew two friends at the time who had strange chemistry. As their marijuana empire grew, their friendship became closer. However, as it separated it became strained until they faded apart and disappeared. It took place somewhere in Massachusettes, though it was centralized in the film to Cape Cod. The director-writer was interested in the subject and began to add detail to the story, set in 1991, which would include references to Hurrican Bob in 1991 (the inspiration for the film The Perfect Storm). As he formed the idea, he would complete the script in 2013, where it landed on the Black List. The honor seemed inevitable, especially with the Black List embodying the best of unproduced screenplays.
It would take until 2015 for him to become able to direct the film himself. Imperative Entertainment agreed to finance and produce the film. The film would also hire the cast of Maika Monroe, Timothee Chalamet, and Alex Roe to the main cast. Filming began in August 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. The crew reports living together during the filming. They also noted that because they were all a young cast, with Bynum only a few years older, there was a deeper connection to each other throughout the production.
Despite being completed in 2015, the film wouldn't premiere until South by Southwest on March 13, 2017. By September of that year, A24 and DirecTV would acquire the distribution rights when it performed at the Toronto International Film Festival. It wasn't the only film of Chalamet's that would be there. Call Me By Your Name (which would earn him a Best Actor Oscar nomination) and A24's Lady Bird were also there. With the acclaim of these two movies, Chalamet's profile looked to be on the rise. It was in a sense as the main trailer for the film would rack up 14 million views. However, its limited release would only garner $244,331. It also didn't help that the reviews weren't too favorable nor was it able to buy into the upswing of his newfound success as an acclaimed actor.
Unlike Bo Burnham previously, Byrnum's directorial debut didn't sit well with audiences and received a lukewarm reception. The film would receive a 43% on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of A.V. Club lead the complaints against the movie with a statement of "Hot Summer Nights is both groan-inducingly contrived and vapid, its talented young cast wasted on an incoherent script-less a web of betrayal, greed, and adolescent desire than a few dangling threads." Scott Tobias of NPR would also suggest that "Bynum has excellent taste, but his debut feature suffers from a crisis of identity that mirrors that of his hero, a confused teenager who ambles his way into serious trouble." Those with more favorable opinions sided with Katie Walsh of Los Angeles Times, who suggested: "Although every cinematic experiment and story beat doesn't always work, Hot Summer Nights is downright intoxicating, oozing with panache and sensuality from every pore." Overall, the film was another minimal release for the studio, leading to almost zero attention following its release.
With another film that was slowly released, A24 didn't quite strike gold with their second Chalamet vehicle Hot Summer Nights. What resulted was a mediocre movie with not a lot of excitement or push behind it. It was another conventional crime thriller from the DirecTV branch that neither had a great story nor failed to perform the basic feats of storytelling. It was a fine movie, and its reception was just the same. With their next film, the studio continues to hang out in the hot summer nights by taking a different spin on things. This time they turn to teenagers just trying to make it through the heat with the comedy Never Goin' Back. Will it be their best visit to the beach since Spring Breakers? One can only hope.
Up Next: Never Goin' Back (2018)
Things were heating up that summer as A24 released their highest-grossing movie to date (Hereditary) as well as one of their perfect word-of-mouth success stories (Eighth Grade). It seemed like they were heading towards a terrific end of 2018 as the summer was winding down. While that is somewhat true, director Elijah Bynum's debut Hot Summer Nights was unfortunately not the best example of that. In spite of starring a recent Oscar-nominee in Timothee Chalamet, the film failed to really connect with audiences or gain half the acclaim that their other big directorial debut of the summer, Eighth Grade, did. It was a fine film, but one that continued to show how the DirecTV branch of releases pale in comparison to their main roster. It was a fine movie, though far from the follow-up from Chalamet's work in Lady Bird that they were hoping for.
The story begins for Bynum in college. While the film would earn a "mostly true" moniker, the film was fictionalized from real events. Bynum knew two friends at the time who had strange chemistry. As their marijuana empire grew, their friendship became closer. However, as it separated it became strained until they faded apart and disappeared. It took place somewhere in Massachusettes, though it was centralized in the film to Cape Cod. The director-writer was interested in the subject and began to add detail to the story, set in 1991, which would include references to Hurrican Bob in 1991 (the inspiration for the film The Perfect Storm). As he formed the idea, he would complete the script in 2013, where it landed on the Black List. The honor seemed inevitable, especially with the Black List embodying the best of unproduced screenplays.
It would take until 2015 for him to become able to direct the film himself. Imperative Entertainment agreed to finance and produce the film. The film would also hire the cast of Maika Monroe, Timothee Chalamet, and Alex Roe to the main cast. Filming began in August 2015 in Atlanta, Georgia. The crew reports living together during the filming. They also noted that because they were all a young cast, with Bynum only a few years older, there was a deeper connection to each other throughout the production.
Despite being completed in 2015, the film wouldn't premiere until South by Southwest on March 13, 2017. By September of that year, A24 and DirecTV would acquire the distribution rights when it performed at the Toronto International Film Festival. It wasn't the only film of Chalamet's that would be there. Call Me By Your Name (which would earn him a Best Actor Oscar nomination) and A24's Lady Bird were also there. With the acclaim of these two movies, Chalamet's profile looked to be on the rise. It was in a sense as the main trailer for the film would rack up 14 million views. However, its limited release would only garner $244,331. It also didn't help that the reviews weren't too favorable nor was it able to buy into the upswing of his newfound success as an acclaimed actor.
Unlike Bo Burnham previously, Byrnum's directorial debut didn't sit well with audiences and received a lukewarm reception. The film would receive a 43% on critics aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes. Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of A.V. Club lead the complaints against the movie with a statement of "Hot Summer Nights is both groan-inducingly contrived and vapid, its talented young cast wasted on an incoherent script-less a web of betrayal, greed, and adolescent desire than a few dangling threads." Scott Tobias of NPR would also suggest that "Bynum has excellent taste, but his debut feature suffers from a crisis of identity that mirrors that of his hero, a confused teenager who ambles his way into serious trouble." Those with more favorable opinions sided with Katie Walsh of Los Angeles Times, who suggested: "Although every cinematic experiment and story beat doesn't always work, Hot Summer Nights is downright intoxicating, oozing with panache and sensuality from every pore." Overall, the film was another minimal release for the studio, leading to almost zero attention following its release.
With another film that was slowly released, A24 didn't quite strike gold with their second Chalamet vehicle Hot Summer Nights. What resulted was a mediocre movie with not a lot of excitement or push behind it. It was another conventional crime thriller from the DirecTV branch that neither had a great story nor failed to perform the basic feats of storytelling. It was a fine movie, and its reception was just the same. With their next film, the studio continues to hang out in the hot summer nights by taking a different spin on things. This time they turn to teenagers just trying to make it through the heat with the comedy Never Goin' Back. Will it be their best visit to the beach since Spring Breakers? One can only hope.
Up Next: Never Goin' Back (2018)
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