Year: 2023

Runtime: 81 minutes

Writer/Director: Noah Schamus

Actors: Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Marianne Rendón, Mila Myles, Yaron Lotan

By Sarah Manvel

What is it about contemporary American culture that keeps people in a state of arrested development? It seems like the external milestones that represent “success” — an impressive career, home ownership, and committed relationships — have become the things which create emotional maturity instead of the other way around. This is a long and slightly unfair way of saying how surprising it is to realise the characters in “Summer Solstice” are touching thirty. The fact that Leo (Bobbi Salvör Menuez) and Eleanor (Marianne Rendón) never shut up about college has a lot to do with that, of course. On the surface “Summer Solstice” is about whether a friendship can survive someone’s gender transition, but in reality it’s about whether a friendship can survive two people being brutally honest with each other.

Eleanor is a photographer on a summer road trip, and has mooched a place to stay on Leo’s floor in Brooklyn before she heads upstate. They haven’t seen each other since Leo transitioned, though Eleanor seems to know the score. She is also performatively melodramatic in the style that’s understandable when you’re in college and exhausting in an adult. The much more subdued Leo is a struggling actor, though successful enough to have an agent, and as the movie opens learns that on Monday he’ll have a callback audition for a recurring part on a television show. Terrific news, though Leo is pretty anxious about it, so Eleanor suggests that he come upstate with her for the weekend as a distraction. They used to be super close and it would be nice to have that back, but mainly Leo doesn’t have enough going on in his life to refuse. So mostly it is just awkward, especially when they run into Oliver (Mila Myles), who was the only other trans man in Leo’s acting classes and who has a much more successful career. But Oliver’s open and welcoming, and he and his friend Joe (Yaron Lotan) invite them over for a drink and to swim in their pool. And as the sun beats down and some clothes come off, some truth comes out.

Writer-director Noah Schamus has created a gently funny story about two friends who are each not great at adulting but think the other one is, and who are therefore more interested in saving face than truly connecting with each other. When Eleanor makes a joke about stealing a dress from a shop, Leo broods for hours before asking for clarification that Eleanor would not in fact have stolen the dress, which hurts Eleanor’s feelings. Later there’s an awkward moment in the pool when Eleanor asks Leo a question that everyone else there already knows the answer to, which hurts Leo’s feelings. Eleanor feels left out while Leo doesn’t know how to assert himself, even as they practice the lines he has to perform for his audition on Monday. 

This is a movie that feels like a blind date. Two people with enough mutual interest to risk something awful in the hopes of something great is very relatable! The interplay between Leo and Eleanor – and, to a lesser extent, Leo and Oliver – means the no-budget style and virtually closed settings allow the actors their full chance to shine. Ms Rendón does a marvelous job of keeping the stew of Eleanor’s emotions close to the surface, and it’s clear from her performance that Eleanor is entirely well-meaning even when she’s not perfect. Mx Menuez gives a much more restrained and subtle performance by design, which is harder to appreciate even as it’s utterly right for Leo. This all means “Summer Solstice” is a remarkable little movie about finding emotional maturity through honesty, most importantly with yourself. The funny and painfully relatable ending ties everything up with a perfect bow, too. This is Mx Schamus’ first feature film (though their short films have also played at BFI Flare) and they’ve made an excellent calling card for future work.