My Summer As A Goth: A Quirky Coming of Age Comedy

Release date: November 11, 2020
Running time: 104 minutes
Starring: Natalie Shershow, Jack Levis, Fayra Teeters, Jonas Israel, Jenny White, Carter Allen, Eduardo Reyes, Rachelle Henry, Lorraine Bahr, Michael Biesanz, Sophie Giberson and Sarah Overman.
Director: Tara Johnson-Medinger
Writers: Brandon Lee Roberts, Tara Johnson-Medinger

From director Tara Johnson-Medinger, and starring award-winning actor Natalie Shershow (“Leverage”, “American Vandal”), My Summer as a Goth is a coming-of-age story about the sometimes painful—often entertaining—search for identity and love in adolescence.  After the sudden death of her father, 16-year-old, Joey Javitts is sent to stay with her eccentric grandparents while her author mother promotes her latest novel. Joey promptly falls for the beguiling Goth boy next door, Victor, and is transformed by him and his merry band of misfits in black.  Set in present-day Portland, My Summer as a Goth navigates Joey’s relationships with her new friends, her family and herself, and will resonate with anyone who survived the social alienation of adolescence—and that first summer heartbreak.

The film has an interesting premise.  Joey is trying to deal with her own dark thoughts so decides to begin hanging out with a group that she thinks understands this part of her.  And as she gets more into goth culture, she begins to question how much she actually wants to change.  The film has a fun cast of characters, including the various goth kids and Joey's grandparents, who are much more hip and understanding than most grandparents would be given Joey's change.  The grandparents are pretty funny and do have some fun little quips here and there.  And Victor is an odd kid, but he also is generally funny.  The film has a lot of quirky little comedic moments that will make you chuckle as you remember how difficult it was to navigate growing up.  Overall, this comedy will give you something a little more quirky to enjoy as you reminisce about your teenage years.  And as you would expect from a movie about goth culture, the music is very good.  It's more like techno-light Marilyn Manson, and a fitting, very listenable goth-style soundtrack.

However, like adolescence and growing up, the film does have some rough patches.  First, the voice acting and general acting feel stiff at the start.  It begins to get better as the film progresses but it still also feels a little unnatural at times.  And Joey begins the film as not likeable or sympathetic, but that does change.  Additionally, the goth characters generally seem less goth and more like drama kids (which I understand probably often include goths).  However, the film's characters just seem like odd ducks and less like dedicated goths.  Maybe that is just how modern goths are.  And Joey's transformation into a goth happens very quickly; I would have liked for a more nuanced change to occur rather than a full on redo.  And the film also has a good number of scenes that feel heavy handed.  But those are equally balanced by some genuinely fun scenes and some dramatic moments and scenes with real emotion.

My Summer As A Goth is a quirky comedy with some fun characters and emotional scenes that will remind you of how awkward growing up and coming into your own can be.  

Rent it.

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My Summer As A Goth is available to rent or buy on November 11, 2020. 

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