The film, by Alessandra Lacorazza, follows two siblings as they visit their father, played by Residente, in New Mexico.
“In the Summers” follows two siblings, Violeta and Eva, as they visit their father over four staggered summers from childhood to adulthood. Most of the year, they live in California with their mother, but both she and their lives there go unseen. The film, told in chapters, depicts only the most sweltering months, which they spend in Las Cruces, N.M., with their father, Vicente, played by René Pérez Joglar, also known as the rapper and singer Residente.
The movie, written and directed by Alessandra Lacorazza, won the top prize for an American fiction feature at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It increases in power as it proceeds, as Violeta (played in succession by Dreya Castillo, Kimaya Thais Limon and, from last year’s “Mutt,” Lío Mehiel) and Eva (Luciana Elisa Quiñonez, Allison Salinas and Sasha Calle) grow older and gain sharper understandings of their father’s flaws. Each segment begins with their arrival at the airport. Vicente’s temper is apparent in the first section, when he explodes at a stranger in an amusement park after she tries to help a sick Eva.
Soon after that, Vicente’s dangerous driving habits emerge as a motif. In one chapter, to impress the children, he swerves recklessly at night, making a game out of not stopping. In another, Violeta has to prevent him from driving drunk. (Emma Ramos as Carmen, the bartender who drives them home and who has known Vicente for years, is in some ways Lacorazza’s secret weapon. Her character becomes a watchful eye and sounding board for the siblings.)
Vicente can’t seem to keep track of Violeta and Eva’s ages. But even with his wavering attention, he is capable of flashes of warmth. He works as a tutor and has a knack for explaining things. In a sweet early scene, he pours chili flakes on a pizza to illustrate how scientists can estimate the number of stars in a given area. And even at his most irresponsible — he introduces the teenage Violeta to marijuana, reasoning that it’s better to smoke it in a safe place — he often means well. A late scene in which he haltingly tries to apologize for his shortcomings constitutes the film’s most perfectly underplayed moment.
Pérez Joglar becomes the movie’s through line, a constant presence who has to act against a changing roster of co-stars. If the casting shifts aren’t always persuasive, Vicente’s limited ability to perceive Eva and Violeta is part of the point. The structural conceit is the most engaging aspect of “In the Summers,” even if it gives the storytelling some perspective issues. (While Vicente sees Violeta and Eva only during the summer, they in theory see each other much more regularly.) Lacorazza’s deftness with actors, feel for the setting and aesthetic decisions — shooting in the snapshot-like 1.66-to-1 aspect ratio, or leaving the characters’ Spanish without subtitles — help the drama ring true.
In the Summers
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
