How To Make A Perfect Summer Movie

Summer films are strung together by the essence of hope, excitement, and adventure.

Steven Spielberg’s 1975 thriller Jaws is widely considered the first summer blockbuster. The film made $100 million at the box office only 59 days into its release, and, at the time, became the highest-grossing movie at the North American box office. Summer in the film industry would never be the same, and since then, Hollywood has seen countless summer blockbusters like Grease, Indiana Jones, and in recent years, Barbie.

But what is required for a film to be deemed a perfect summer movie? For me, it is a lot more than a successful box office run. In fact, a lot of the films on my required watch list every summer didn’t make hundreds of millions at the box office. Instead, summer films are strung together by the essence of hope, excitement, and adventure.

Adventuring Through The Summer Months

Monte Carlo. 2011. 20th Century Studios.

Summer movies are often lighthearted, full of hope and excitement, and their characters are often seeking an adventure. From Aquamarine, where two tweens set out to help a lifeguard fall in love with their new mermaid friend, to Stephen King’s IT, where a group of kids fight off a shape-shifting clown, summer movie characters are usually longing for adventure. When school is out and the weather is warm, we yearn for freedom, and we expect something great to happen that we can tell our friends about when we’re back at school. After all, one of the first things we were asked on the first day of school as we eased back into our schedules was “What did you do this summer?” School is the antonym of freedom, so when you let kids out of school, all bets are off.

When it comes to making the perfect summer movie, adventure is often at the center. I’ve covered several summer movies throughout the past few years, one of them being Thomas Bezucha’s 2011 film Monte Carlo. The movie takes place the summer after Grace’s high school graduation, where she leaves her small Texas hometown behind for Paris with her best friend and stepsister. However, after being mistaken for a socialite who looks exactly like her, she ends up in Monte Carlo impersonating Cordelia Winthrop Scott for the entire film. Now, that’s the kind of adventure I was talking about. Movies like this reach viewers who feel exactly like Grace felt–trapped in her small town, surrounded by people who barely ever notice her. Her vacation gave her a chance to see the world and for the world to finally see her. Imagine telling that story to the person who asks you what you did this summer.

However, adventure comes in many forms. It can be more obvious, like in Monte Carlo or the major summer blockbusters Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, or it could be more subtle, like in Aquamarine. The 2006 family comedy takes place in Florida, and its characters never leave their beach town for adventure. Instead, adventure comes to them. Aquamarine shows up in town, and for two 13-year-old girls, getting to hang out with a mermaid all summer is an adventure of its own. Films like Dirty Dancing fit this mold, too. While going away with your family to a Catskills resort might not sound like much of an adventure, Baby finds freedom in escaping the good girl persona she crafted for her parents’ approval.

For what seems like the first time in her life, she has real fun because of Johnny. However, no matter what adventures the characters endure throughout the summer months, there’s almost always a happy ending. If the summer adventure is fighting off a great white shark that’s eating all the swimmers on Amity Island, like in Jaws, it has to end with Police Chief Martin Brody defeating the shark, avenging everyone who died that Fourth of July weekend.

Summer Movies Are The Cheapest Way To Go On Vacation

Mamma Mia. 2008. Universal Pictures.

NPR did a segment on All Things Considered called What Makes For A Good Summer Movie? Producer Marc Rivers mentioned that summer movies are the cheapest and easiest way to go on vacation. For all of time, film has been an escape from reality, and just because there’s a lot to do during the summer doesn’t mean everyone has the means to do it. Some people still long to escape, whether to a pink alternate universe called Barbie Land or a fictional Greek island called Kalokairi; it’s all up to the viewer. Mamma Mia takes you into the world of Donna Sheridan, and even though everything is far from perfect–her hotel is crumbling because she’s a financial mess, and her daughter’s three potential fathers have shown up at her resort unannounced–fans still long to be in Greece with her singing and dancing to ABBA songs.

Mamma Mia and its sequel, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, are actually great examples of how, sometimes, summer movies don’t have to be overly lighthearted. In Mamma Mia, Donna’s dealing with financial struggles and is still reeling from her breakup with Sam, which she’s forced to face when he arrives at her villa. Meryl Streep’s performance of “The Winner Takes It All” is particularly emotional. In Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, Donna has passed away, and her daughter Sophie is dealing with the grief and trying to rebuild her mother’s resort in time for opening day. We also have flashbacks of young Donna in the 70s, where, despite all the fun she’s having, she also deals with the heartbreak of finding out Sam is engaged. But as I mentioned earlier, everything comes together in the end, and the array of ABBA songs adds joy to even the darkest moments.