Rent Cruel Summer (2016)

Cruel Summer review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Danny was a teenager with autism who worked up enough spirit and enthusiasm to go camping in the woods. His parents were worried about him but he assured them that he’d be safe when it came to staying outdoors. And he was. What he didn’t count on was the violent tendencies of bored, stupid and egotistical teenagers that needlessly targeted him.

So the horrific story goes, the teenage girl Julia infuriates her violent boyfriend Nicholas and chooses Danny as a target for his rage. The troublemaker hires his backup muscle pal of Calvin to help him track down the elusive Danny, hitting up the whole town while also pursuing the daily activities of juvenile delinquents. They steal, drink, and smoke as Nicholas only lets his hatred rise as he frustratedly searches for the one he wants to hurt. And hurt he does. The film soon turns from a slow contrast of the calm Danny and the furious Nicholas to a fully-gritty and terrifying horror picture of ill-placed revenge. It’d bloody, graphic, and tough to watch, all the more so when realizing that these were true events and people can really be this demonic and toxic.

Directors Phillip Escott and Craig Newman have an amazing ability to let this fairly simple and brutal story play out with lingering scenes. When we’re with Danny in the woods for the first act, there’s a tranquility, a peace for someone who finds it so hard to connect with people socially. We peer just a little bit into Danny’s mindset and his love for nature that proceeds on a smooth routine of beauty in taking everything in, from the babbling stream to the towering trees. When we’re with Nicholas, all we see is hate. Pointless, fiery hate to do something, to clear one's name and prove themselves as the alpha. Keep a close eye on Julia and Calvin, the way they stand by and merely let Nicholas keep going as the leader, despite their misgivings before Danny is even found. Even when they see the real inhuman nature of Nicholas, they do nothing. They don’t know how to stop him and deep down they know they don’t want to stop him because they themselves would be wrong.

It can’t be overstated how tough Cruel Summer is to watch. It’s uncompromising in showing every blow, stab, and drop of blood as Danny is progressively savaged through the woods. It’s infuriating to watch it go on, the way such terrible people could either let an autistic person be beaten or do it themselves. But it’s important to watch with open eyes for two very important reasons. One, we need to see that these types of people are real, as vile and disgusting as they are that makes them appear cartoonish in how villainous they may be. And two, we need to see the futility of it all, how all this work by Nicholas went into nothing. Only death, injuries, and jail sentences will result in this end.

Cruel Summer fits into that all-too-important category of movies you need to see at least once. It’s not to realize that the world is a dangerous place so that those with autism shouldn’t venture out camping. Those who take that away from this story are not listening, not seeing the true evil that lurks in delinquents that don’t want to make a statement with their punches and kicks. If something this shocking doesn’t inspire to speak up and take action when someone with autism is treated in such a manner, I doubt anything will.