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Summering | 2022 | PG-13 | – 1.4.4

content-ratingsWhy is “Summering” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some thematic material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes teen girls discovering a dead body and keeping it a secret, a teen girl discharging a gun twice, teen girls talking about growing up and going to middle school, a few arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.


Making the most of their last weekend of summer vacation, four girls (Lia Barnett, Sanai Victoria, Madalen Mills and Eden Grace Redfield) visit their favorite places and talk about their fear of taking their next step to middle school. They are derailed, however, when the unexpected discovery of a dead body makes them question their choices. Also with Lake Bell, Sarah Cooper, Ashley Madekwe and Megan Mullally. Directed by James Ponsoldt. [Running Time: 1:27]

Summering SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A teen girl wonders when she will have her first kiss. A woman suspects that a boy is involved somehow when her daughter is unreachable by phone. A teen girl says that someone on a TV show ended up with a sore in her mouth after kissing a man that had been eating human remains (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman says, “My daughter walks out of the bathroom when I [scatological term deleted] in front of her,” and other women in the room seem alarmed.
 A teen girl’s top reveals some cleavage in a couple of scenes.

Summering VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – Four teen girls discover a male dead body in an isolated area under a bridge (we see the body’s blue tinged skin on his fingers but do not see his face), and the girls don’t tell anyone about what they found; we later hear that the bridge is called “suicide bridge” because several people have committed suicide there over the years. Four teen girls decide they need to move a dead body, and when they carry him, the body makes a flatulence sound and they refer to it as “death gas.” A teen girl imagines a dead man rattling the door of a bathroom stall and runs out (we see a sock covered foot with a hole in the toe where a blackened toenail is visible). Teen girls hold a dead body in a sitting position so another teen can take a photo of it.
 A teen girl steps into a street in front of a bus and imagines seeing a dead man on the bus; the bus driver honks and she steps back onto the sidewalk. A teen girl imagines seeing a man (a man she saw dead earlier) standing outside her window at night and she calls for her mother. Four teen girls go into a bar and ask if anyone can identify a picture they took of a dead body; they say the dead man is sleeping. Four teen girls break into a school to use the computer to search for information about a dead man.
 A teen girl shoots a gun at a storage room lock twice and breaks the lock with the second shot. A teen girl imagines a man’s reflection in a store window and panics. A teen girl takes a gun out of a drawer (her mother is a police officer) and puts it in her backpack. A dead woman’s body is uncovered and shown on a TV show. Teen girls go into a storage unit and discover that a man had been living there.
 Four teen girls do a séance and lighting flashes outside; one girl says that they each need to pay death to take them to the other side, the TV turns on and the screen shows static, and when someone knocks on the front door and they scream. Eerie music plays with the opening sequence, we see three teen girls hiding in a bathtub, and another teen throws back the curtain causing them to scream as she turns on the shower.
 A teen girl panics when her mother keeps calling her and another teen takes her phone and throws it into the street where a car and then a truck run over it; the phone shatters and the battery catches fire. Teen girls talk about germs that they might get from a dead body; one girl says that someone on a TV show ended up with a sore in her mouth after kissing a man that had been eating human remains. A teen girl worries that her friendship with three other teen girls will change when they go to middle school and that she needs them more than they need her. Three women are concerned about their daughters seeming unsettled. A teen girl pleads with her mother to let her skip Mass. A teen girl wakes her mother in the morning telling her that she has work. A woman paints a picture of her daughter and when her daughter is not happy with how it looks, the woman says, “Don’t blame me, this is your essence.” A teen girl tells her younger teen sister, “Everything changes in middle school.” Teen girls talk about a bridge being haunted. A teen girl talks about her mother using a “stalking app.” A teen girl talks about her father disappearing. A teen girl asks if it was her fault that her father left. A teen girl talks about her mother making her use the boys’ bathroom when the line for the girls’ bathroom was too long and that there was urine everywhere. A woman says, “My daughter walks out of the bathroom when I [scatological term deleted] in front of her,” and other women in the room seem alarmed.
 A girl holds a large snail on the back of her hand. A teen girl lights a stick of incense in her room. Four teen girls spit (we see some saliva) over the side of a bridge after talking about boys urinating from somewhere high. Rain floods an area under a bridge and a tree topples over.

Summering LANGUAGE 4

 – 10 scatological terms, 4 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (diaper babies, crazy, creepy, stupid sister, dumb, mean girl, psycho helicopter parent, hocus-pocus, disappointing, sketchy, occasional day drinker, unfortunate, nerd), exclamations (oh my, settle down, yea yea yea, shh, oh my gosh, oh no, shut-up, seriously), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, Holy [scatological term deleted], God no, God, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

Summering SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman asks her daughter if she took her medication that morning (it’s not clear what the meds are for), and a teen girl opens a prescription vial and takes a pill out (she does not take it). A woman sleeps in a chair in her home and her teen daughter takes a glass out of her hand (implying heavy drinking), women drink glasses of wine, a bartender identifies a man as an occasional day drinker that would drink bottom shelf whiskey, people in a bar are seen drinking and one person has their head down on the bar (presumably passed out).

Summering DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Growing up, friendship, facts vs. truths, helicopter parenting, patriarchy, asking for forgiveness, knowing what’s right, Catholic school, school uniforms, suicide, secrets, lying, honesty, being realistic, single parenting, the Great Depression, abandonment.

Summering MESSAGE

 – Growing up isn’t all that great.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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