Frightfest 2016: ‘Cruel Summer’ review

Cruel Summer review: Realistic characters and subtlety when it comes to violence, this is a film that stays with you long after the credits roll.

Cruel Summer review by Kat Hughes, FrightFest 2016.

Set amongst rural Wales Cruel Summer tells the tragic real-life story of a young autistic boy who was murdered by a gang of his peers. It’s a harrowing tale made all the worse for it’s ‘based on true events’ tag. It was a ghastly act that should never have happened.

At the head of the clan of soon-to-be-murderers is Nick. Played by Emmerdale‘s Danny Miller Nick is your typical under-educated, under-privileged working class teenager. Life’s been hard on Nick and he’s angry because of it. After an argument with his girlfriend he turns to female friend Julia for help. Rather than help, Julia, who clearly has designs on Nick, instead spins a yarn that she knows his girlfriend slept with local autistic teen Danny. Spurred on by Julia and a need for a release, he enlists new local Calvin, under a different lie, to teach Danny a lesson.

Events spiral slowly; the story juxtaposes between Danny and Nick’s gang. This gives the audience a chance to get to know everyone. Whilst on paper you might expect the trio to be overly nasty they really aren’t. They all have their massive character flaws – Nick’s quick to anger, Julia is Lady Macbeth level manipulative, and Calvin’s too weak-willed, but they are true studies of real people. Calvin’s delicate nature has him a secondary victim, he has dreams of breaking free of his upbringing and lifestyle, but the actions that unfold render that null and void.

We don’t get to see much of Danny, our victim, but we see enough to get a feel for his character. A mild-mannered, polite, young man, excited to be spending the night alone in the woods. He’s a sweet and innocent person and it’s heart-achingly upsetting when the climax happens.

We build up to the dastardly deed gradually, every moment wrought with tension and an undercurrent of malice. When it comes, it’s not the gore splatter fest that you might expect. Yes there is blood and gore, but this is a film that would rather leave it to the imagination, and is more powerful for it.

There’s a similarity to Eden Lake and comparisons will inevitably be drawn, but there’s so much more in Cruel Summer. Lake was brash and over the top, the gore too plentiful, the anguish nothing more than the poor beating up the affluent. Summer is more subtle when it comes to the execution and also gives much more time to the antagonists, giving the audience a chance to get to know these characters. They might be bad, but they’re not two-dimensional. They feel real. Director and writing team Phillip Escott and Craig Newman have written real dialogue for people that do exist in the real world.

Heartbreaking, powerful and truly sad, Cruel Summer is an emotional juggernaut that highlights just how truly terrible the human race can be.

Cruel Summer forms part of this year’s Frightfest programme.