Movies: In the Summers (2024) by Alessandra Lacorazza: A tender, turbulent portrait of love, memory, and the flawed beauty of fatherhood
- dailyentertainment95
- Oct 13
- 5 min read
Growing up between summers and storms
In the Summers (2024) is an intimate coming-of-age drama written and directed by Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio, starring Residente, Sasha Calle, and Lio Mehiel. Set in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the film follows Eva and Violeta, two sisters who spend their formative years visiting their loving but volatile father, Vicente, every summer.
Told across four chapters and three generations of actresses, the story unfolds as a mosaic of childhood memories—of laughter, anger, music, and silence. As the girls grow older, their understanding of their father deepens: what once felt like freedom begins to reveal fragility, addiction, and the complexities of love. The result is a heartfelt exploration of how family bonds can both wound and heal, and how forgiveness can coexist with pain.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition), In the Summers also earned eight awards and thirteen nominations for its direction, screenplay, and performances.
Why to Recommend: A deeply personal story of imperfection and connection
Authentic emotional storytelling: Lacorazza crafts a world that feels lived-in, raw, and painfully familiar. Each summer visit becomes a mirror reflecting the sisters’ growth and their father’s unraveling humanity.The film’s quiet power lies not in what’s said, but in what lingers between words—guilt, affection, and the ache of time passing too quickly.
Grounded performances and real emotion: Residente’s portrayal of Vicente is magnetic—a father torn between love and self-destruction—while Sasha Calle and Lio Mehiel bring emotional depth and quiet strength to the daughters’ adult selves.The child actors add remarkable authenticity, embodying the wonder and confusion of youth with understated grace.
Sensitive direction and rhythm: Lacorazza’s direction favors observation over explanation. Each frame feels like a memory—sun-drenched, intimate, and tinged with melancholy.
Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/in-the-summers (US), https://www.justwatch.com/au/movie/in-the-summers (Australia), https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/in-the-summers (Canada), https://www.justwatch.com/fr/film/in-the-summers (France)
Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24805832/
What is the Trend Followed: The rise of Latinx emotional realism and memory cinema
In the Summers belongs to a new wave of Latinx American realist dramas that center on family, identity, and emotional nuance—films grounded in truth rather than melodrama.
Memory-driven narrative: Similar to Boyhood and Aftersun, the film spans time not through exposition but through accumulation—moments layering until they form a portrait of growing up.
Latinx identity through subtlety: Rather than defining the family through ethnicity or trauma, it allows their Latinx experience to exist naturally, woven into the textures of life—language, landscape, rhythm, and resilience.
The fatherhood redefined: Breaking from the “absent father” trope, Vicente is complex—loving yet broken, chaotic yet tender. His contradictions give the film its beating heart.
Queer representation without explanation: Queerness flows organically within the story, treated as identity rather than theme—an understated yet powerful choice reflecting modern inclusivity in storytelling.
Slow intimacy and natural light: The film adopts a quiet visual style—handheld cameras, warm tones, long silences—that echoes the “emotional documentary” aesthetic seen in works by Charlotte Wells and Debra Granik.
Summary: In the Summers represents the “cinema of memory and realism”—introspective storytelling grounded in cultural identity and emotional truth, redefining how Latinx and family narratives are told.
Director’s Vision: Love through the eyes of memory
A story born from personal truth: Loosely inspired by Lacorazza’s own childhood summers visiting her father in Colombia, the film channels nostalgia and vulnerability into cinematic language.
Feminine gaze, masculine tenderness: Her direction reinterprets fatherhood through a lens of empathy—showing how love can coexist with damage without idealizing either.
Fragmented yet unified: Each chapter unfolds like a home video—moments that feel real, flawed, and fleeting, creating an emotional rhythm between documentary realism and lyrical fiction.
Humanism above plot: Lacorazza’s guiding philosophy is simple: “Life isn’t a story; it’s a collection of summers you never forget.”
Themes: Fatherhood, forgiveness, and the passage of time
Flawed love: The film acknowledges that love, even when imperfect, can be transformative—and that understanding our parents’ pain is part of growing up.
Memory as identity: Each summer becomes a time capsule, reflecting who the sisters were and who they are becoming.
The tension of care: Vicente’s inability to balance affection and control reveals the complexity of fatherhood in fractured families.
Healing through empathy: The daughters’ journey toward forgiveness underscores the possibility of peace, even when reconciliation feels impossible.
Childhood nostalgia and grief: Like faded photographs, the film captures the bittersweet duality of remembering—the beauty of what was, and the pain of what’s gone.
Key Success Factors: Intimacy, truth, and generational resonance
Emotional authenticity: The film’s strength lies in its realism—dialogue that sounds lived-in, conflicts that feel familiar, and love that’s both messy and enduring.
Unfolding over time: The use of multiple actresses to portray the sisters enhances the film’s emotional continuity and realism.
Award-winning craftsmanship: Its editing, pacing, and atmospheric score create a rhythm that feels as natural as breathing.
Cultural specificity with universal reach: While deeply rooted in Latinx family dynamics, its emotional resonance transcends borders.
Awards & Nominations: A Sundance triumph
In the Summers was the Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition), where it also received awards for Directing, Screenwriting, and Editing. With 8 total wins and 13 nominations, it became one of the year’s most acclaimed independent debuts, marking Alessandra Lacorazza as a major new voice in American cinema.
Critics Reception: Intimate, universal, and full of life
Variety: “A poetic and deeply felt debut that transforms childhood memories into cinematic empathy.”
IndieWire: “Quiet yet devastating, In the Summers captures the rhythm of love and loss with remarkable authenticity.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “Residente delivers a raw, magnetic performance in a film that understands the contradiction of parenthood.”
The Guardian: “A subtle masterpiece about growing up between joy and pain, between summer light and emotional shadow.”
Summary: Critics hail In the Summers as a landmark Latinx coming-of-age film, praised for its realism, empathy, and emotional power.
Reviews: Resonant, imperfect, and achingly real
Audience reactions: Viewers praise its “soulful realism” and emotional intelligence. Many call it “the Latinx Boyhood” for its portrayal of time and family without sentimentality.
Festival viewers: Applauded its nuanced depiction of flawed love and its non-linear storytelling.
Overall: Audiences describe it as “a film that doesn’t explain life—it just lets you feel it.”
Summary: In the Summers resonates deeply with anyone who’s ever loved someone imperfectly and learned to forgive them.
Movie Trend: Emotional realism through generational storytelling
In the Summers joins a growing trend of multi-generational, memory-based storytelling—films like Past Lives, Aftersun, and Minari that focus on how small, personal stories reflect larger emotional truths. This wave favors empathy over spectacle, intimacy over ideology, and emotion over exposition.
Social Trend: Redefining the Latinx family narrative
Lacorazza’s film marks a cultural shift in Latinx representation, moving beyond stereotypes of struggle or heroism. Instead, it celebrates the ordinary—quiet summers, imperfect families, and the enduring love that binds them. By normalizing tenderness and emotional vulnerability, it contributes to a more inclusive, authentic vision of Latinx identity in global cinema.
Final Verdict: Warm, flawed, and deeply human
In the Summers stands as one of the most emotionally honest debuts of the decade—a love letter to fathers, daughters, and the seasons that shape us. With Alessandra Lacorazza’s deeply personal direction and Residente’s career-defining performance, it captures life’s beauty in its contradictions.Verdict: A luminous coming-of-age drama—a film that lives like a memory, and heals like time itself.
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