#SUNDANCE: “IN THE SUMMERS” REVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Writer-Director Alessandra Lacorazza makes an emotional debut Feature with this story of two daughters coming of age over four summers spent with their troubled father.

In The Summers follows two sisters, Violeta and Eva (who are played by different actors over the four summers we follow them), on a journey that spans the formative years of their lives. It takes place over four summers when two sisters visit their loving but volatile father Vicente (René Pérez Joglar who’s also known by his musical moniker Residente) in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We’re first introduced to this family when Vicente picks his daughters up from the airport. The girls love playing games with their son, but it’s clear something is off. Although Lacorazza never tells us why their father lives away from the girls who are based in LA, Vicente’s actions allow the audience to fill the gap.

He’s nearly never seen without a drink. Pérez Joglar gives a towering performance as this father who tries his hardest to do right for his daughters while struggling with addiction. There’s a shocking event that happens during the girls’ second summer that leads to a monumental shift in their lives. This event turns In The Summers into an exploration of forgiveness. How does one forgive their father for a tragedy he alone is to blame for? Through Violeta and Eva, we witness two perspectives. But it’s Vicente’s story that grips us. It shows living with the weight of your life-changing actions and trying to forgive yourself.

In The Summers is in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at this year’s Festival. It won the U.S. Dramatic Competition Grand Jury Prize.

In The Summers screens at Sundance ’24:

Jan 2 at 12:00 PM at Library Centre Theatre

Jan 23 at 9:00 AM at Prospector Square Theatre

Jan 24 at 10:00 PM at Magaplex Theatres at The Gateway – Theatre 8/9

Jan 25 at 9:15 PM at Redstone Cinemas – 2

Online — Jan 25 – Jan 28