Summering

“Every step you take, you're moving forward a moment in time. But what if the opposite were true?” Faced with the looming start of middle school, four young girls go on one last childhood adventure at the tail end of their summer. However, a day that starts as lighthearted and innocent turns abruptly dark when the girls make a disturbing discovery. While they work together to unravel the mystery of their encounter, their mothers (played by Lake Bell and Megan Mullally) are frantic to find them. They turn to each other for support and, in doing so, rediscover the kinship of their own carefree summer days. Including both fantastical and horror elements, this romp through a summer's weekend is troubled and real; it lovingly shapes the loss of innocence as a rite of passage rather than something to be mourned. SUMMERING will make you crave the whimsical perspective of youth in the face of tragedy, if only we could walk backward in time. —J.H.