An Autumn Summer

An Autumn Summer is set in the summer of 2010 at a Northern Michigan lake house. Eighteen-year-old Kevin and his girlfriend Cody are two months into his family's annual summer trip, with only one month remaining before the two leave for college and their lives diverge. They spend this final stretch alongside their group of four close friends — with Kevin's aunt and uncle providing a minimal adult presence — filling their days with summer activities like biking and swimming, and their nights with small adventures. The film unfolds as a slow, quiet unwinding rather than a dramatic narrative: Kevin and Cody's relationship is under the gentle pressure of impending separation, and both the couple and the friend group are acutely aware that the clock is running out. A key scene captures Kevin and Cody wading into the deeper waters of Lake Michigan at dawn in a single five-and-a-half-minute take, discussing their relationship in what serves as a metaphor for the depth and risk of emotional vulnerability. The film's emotional core is the bittersweet recognition that each shared moment may harden into memory, and that the end of summer signals the end of a particular phase of youth. The tone is described by the director as pure, uncynical, and unapologetically romantic — evoking healing and renewal alongside melancholy. The film premiered at the Heartland International Film Festival in 2024 and is scheduled for limited US theatrical release on May 1, 2026. Note: the film had not yet released as of the date of this research; plot detail derives from promotional materials and a director interview, not from the finished film.

Sources: FirstShowing.net, Deadline, VIMooZ, Moveable Fest (director interview)