Winner of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Dramatic Competition, In the Summers tells the story of two daughters and their annual summer visits to see their father in New Mexico. In her directorial debut, Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio — who also won the Directing Award at the festival — considers the challenges of forgiving the unforgivable.
Told in four parts, we're first introduced to Vicente (René Pérez Joglar, also known as the musician Residente) as a hopeful father, eager to please his two young daughters, ensuring his house and swimming pool are clean and in good order for their arrival. Vicente's discomfort as a father becomes apparent as the visit wears on, although not for lack of trying — there's an endearing optimism within him that soon dissipates.
As the final chapter approaches, we're appalled by Vicente's actions and attitude while remaining willing for him to grow up. In the final visit, Eva (Sasha Calle) and Violeta (Lío Mehiel) exit the airport the same age as their father was when we first met the family, bringing Lacorazza's script full-circle in a poetically elegant manner. The world is a different place, but for the first time, Eva and Violeta can see their father for who he tried to be all those years ago.
Not much is spoken throughout In the Summers. Instead, Lacorazza uses constant markers, like Vicente's pool, to illustrate the ever-changing tides between Vicente and his daughters. The film stretches across two decades with a simmering intensity, such that, even when emotions explode, the tone Lacorazza establishes quiets everything and everyone into a dark void.
While the lack of dialogue could restrict the performances, the entire ensemble delicately balances the highs and lows of each character meticulously. Different actors portray daughters Eva and Violeta from childhood to adolescence, with Calle and Mehiel respectively taking up the mantle in adulthood. In their reserved performance, Mehiel's mature approach to Violeta gives audience a welcome reprieve, while Calle completes Eva's transformation to a sharp and devastating degree.
Tying all the Evas and Violetas together is Pérez Joglar playing Vicente with such pitiful heartache, his frustration and disappointment in himself becomes palpable. In his first starring role, the Puerto Rican rapper makes a stunning debut in a tour de force performance inciting hatred, sympathy and sorrow all at once. A role that could have simply vacillated between hot and cold, Pérez Joglar finds the lukewarm and the tepid of Vicente, drawing forth a well-rounded character beyond expectation.
In the Summers may not find the wide theatrical release it deserves or possess the stamina needed for next year's awards season — but, regardless of whether those milestones are met, it's a reminder of the potential for human storytelling. An ode to the messiness of growing up as children and parents, In the Summers asks us to exercise compassion in understanding that no one ever truly has life sorted — we're all simply doing the best that we can, when we can.
