BY ALEX GILSTON MARCH 11, 2024
Being young is perceivably simple. Growing up on the other hand is incredibly complicated. One day it’s all sunshine and rainbows, and the next Santa doesn’t exist. Parents try their best to shelter their children from the messiness of adult life, but sometimes that can do more harm than good. Lucy Cohen deals in the secrets that adults keep, and how it affects their children in her coming-of-age feature Edge of Summer. It’s rough around the edges, but the emotionally affecting narrative sees it rising from the dark depths.
SYNOPSIS
In Edge of Summer, Evie (Flora Hylton) and her mother arrive in Cornwall for their summer holiday. She soon makes friends with Adam (Joel Sefton-longi) whose father is absent like hers. When Adam takes Evie to an abandoned tin mine they encounter something unsettling. This encounter throws into question things that are happening in their lives, and white lies their parents might be telling them.
REVIEW
Edge of Summer revolves around the friendship between Evie and Adam. They are both at that age where you become more curious about the world, and more inclined to understand what the people around you do and why they do it. Evie and Adam are on the cusp of these self discoveries, and are both still slightly naïve to the intricacies of the real world. Evie is still convinced that her parents' relationship is working out, and Adam is combative of his Mum’s new partner as he is convinced his father is coming back at any moment.
Adam finds solace deep within an old mine, and he invites Evie to journey with him through it. They come across a vent that hides a chasm leading hundreds of feet downwards. From beneath they initially hear clanging, and soon after a voice. Their interaction with this phantom figure leads them both to start questioning their parents and the simplicity of their world view. There isn’t a reinvention of the wheel here when it comes to the exploration of its core themes. The idea that both Evie and Adam are growing up and losing their innocence is handled in obvious ways.
The mine, which is a fantastical element, acts as a connection between their childhood and them both making realisations which help them grow up. As Evie and Adam begin to peel back the layers of their parents' deceptions, there are some interesting interactions, both salient and moving. They both have very frank conversations with their mothers. Having their experiences in the mine, which are very imaginative and childlike, lead to these moments that are more adult works well as it shows the difference in mindset.
Edge of Summer is a decent coming-of-age tale. Growing up is realising there aren’t simple answers to complicated questions, and on top of that realising most questions are complicated. Edge of Summer understands this, and eventually treats the central characters with the intelligence they deserve.
STAR RATING
