One of the many benefits to school breaks, for me at least, is the fact I have so much more time to watch movies than I normally do. Since I’m rarely doing much during the summer anyway, I can easily watch at least one film a night and really make a dent in my seemingly never-ending watchlist.
If you’re anything like me, the sort of films you watch can really set the tone for your mood: though I’m always an advocate for bleak, depressing films that really make you think, that’s not the sort of vibe I’m trying to cultivate for the summer. Thankfully, there are so many movies, of so many genres, that just feel like the season.
That being said, I’ve crafted a brief, though eclectic, list here of movies that, whether because they take place in June or July or they simply have the right vibe, feel like summer.
“12 Angry Men” (1957)
Arguably the greatest written film of all time, Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama takes place on the hottest day of the year. This fact comes up time and time again as the 12 jurors deliberate, over the course of the entire day, whether to convict or acquit an 18-year-old boy accused of killing his father.
There’s so many genuinely shocking twists and turns in this film and the first time I watched it my jaw dropped several times. One scene, involving a pocketknife, has stuck with me for quite some time — a scene that, despite the film being almost 70 years old, I won’t spoil because it’s just so viscerally effective.
It’s a picture that takes place entirely within one room, a picture that consists almost entirely of men talking to and yelling at one another. It’s closer to a stage play than anything else, which makes sense considering it’s an adaptation of one by Reginald Rose. But it’s intense, it's suspenseful and it’s rightfully revered within the annals of film history.
“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974)
I’ve sung the praises of this prototypical slasher film from Tobe Hooper, but I’m not sure that anything I say can truly do it justice, no matter how many times I say it. For me, “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” is just one of the creepiest movies ever made. I’ve seen it probably two or three times at this point and every time it gets under my skin.
It also takes place in the humid, murky Texas heat, making this a perfect addition to the canon of summer horror films. The production of the film was infamously grueling because of this: the crew were subject to temperatures exceeding 100 degrees because of the un-air-conditioned buildings they were shooting in, surrounded by bones and rotten meat and only a single set of clothes each. You can practically smell the sweat and roadkill on screen here, it’s really a very singular experience.
“Before Sunrise” (1995)
About as far from “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” as one can get is Robert Linklater’s seminal romance “Before Sunrise.” The film takes place on June 16, when Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets Céline (Julie Delpy) on a train coming back from Budapest. They stop off in Vienna, Jesse convinces her to stay with him for the next several hours, and they spend the night roaming the city and getting to know each other as deeply as they can.
“Before Sunrise” is an almost indefinably lovely film and it’s one of my favorite films ever. It’s nearly the cinematic equivalent of a stream-of-consciousness novel, the two main characters rattling off everything at the top of their heads even if there’s little connection between the ideas. The picture is deeply existential, Jesse and Céline discussing everything from love and religion to death and suffering. It’s a romance for the postmodern era, and one that perfectly illustrates the feeling of cultivating an intimate connection with someone whom you may never see again.
“Moonrise Kingdom” (2012)
Another romance, Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” is hardly his best project but one of his most heartfelt. The film follows 12-year-olds Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) and Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward), two pen pals in the summer of 1964 who, alienated by the adult world around them, fall in love and run away into the wilderness.
It’s an almost Shakespearean comedy premise, the two lovers deciding they only need each other and escaping the constraints of rigid civilization. At the same time, it’s a striking portrait of preteen romance with a genuine understanding of what it was like being a kid. There’s a lot of scenes of note, but the one to look out for here is when Sam and Suzy dance on the beach to “Le Temps de L’Amour” by Françoise Hardy — really just beautiful stuff through and through.
“Challengers” (2024)
Maybe it’s a bit too recent to really judge its place within the catalogue, but I couldn’t resist putting Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” here regardless. For all intents and purposes, I think this is a masterful film. Everything about it is just so cool in the truest sense of the word. It’s also a fantastic summer picture, not least because it makes a good companion piece to Wimbledon in June.
The premise might still be well known at this point, but it’s worth recapping anyway: it follows 13 years of the lives of Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’Connor) and Art (Mike Faist), three tennis players stuck in a formidable love triangle. It’s an intensely erotic film; it’s purposefully crafted to reflect the sexual tension between the characters. Everything about it — the editing, the writing, the acting, the score, the cinematography — conglomerates to create a total work of art that feels like a culmination of Guadagnino’s career.
I say this with zero sense of hyperbole: it’s genuinely an awe-inspiring spectacle. And just over a year after its release, it’s more than worth revisiting.
