Summer Nostalgia
For many of us, unable to travel or gather with friends, it has felt like the year skipped directly from spring to fall. As the leaves start to change, we’ve compiled a selection of films that capture the essence of the season of summer.
The August Virgin
(La virgen de agosto)
An Éric Rohmer-esque love letter to Madrid and affairs of the heart.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2019
- Director Jonás Trueba
- Cast Itsaso Arana, Vito Sanz, Isabelle Stoffel, Joe Manjón, Mikele Urroz, Luis Alberto Heras
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Freevee, Plex, Plex Channel
Call Me by Your Name
Is it better to speak or die?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy, France, Brazil • 2017
- Director Luca Guadagnino
- Cast Timothée Chalamet, Armie Hammer, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, Victoire Du Bois
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Netflix, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
American Honey
A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom, United States • 2016
- Director Andrea Arnold
- Cast Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough, McCaul Lombardi, Arielle Holmes, Crystal Ice
- Genre Drama
- Available on Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube, Kanopy
Mustang
In a small Turkish village, five sisters struggle against the restrictions of their conservative family.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Turkey, France, Germany • 2015
- Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven
- Cast Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu, Elit İşcan, Tuğba Sunguroğlu, Ilayda Akdoğan, Nihal Koldaş
- Genre Drama
- Available on Fandor Amazon Channel, Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Tubi TV, Cineverse, Kanopy
The Way He Looks
(Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho)
Not every love happens at first sight.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Brazil • 2014
- Director Daniel Ribeiro
- Cast Ghilherme Lobo, Fábio Audi, Tess Amorim, Lúcia Romano, Eucir de Souza, Selma Egrei
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Strand Releasing Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Kanopy
Tomboy
When a young girl moves to a new neighborhood with her family, she assumes a new identity as a boy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2011
- Director Céline Sciamma
- Cast Zoé Héran, Malonn Lévana, Jeanne Disson, Sophie Cattani, Mathieu Demy, Rayan Boubekri
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Microsoft Store
Mid-August Lunch
(Pranzo di ferragosto)
As his unpaid rent increases, a middle-aged man living with his mother finds creative ways to relieve himself of debt.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2008
- Director Gianni Di Gregorio
- Cast Gianni Di Gregorio, Valeria De Franciscis, Maria Calì, Marina Cacciotti, Grazia Cesarini Sforza, Luigi Marchetti
- Genre Comedy
- Available on Kanopy, Hoopla
My Summer of Love
Two teen girls form an unlikely, and soon passionate, friendship.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2005
- Director Paweł Pawlikowski
- Cast Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, Paddy Considine, Dean Andrews, Michelle Byrne, Paul Antony-Barber
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, Microsoft Store, YouTube
Swimming Pool
On the surface, all is calm.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, United Kingdom • 2003
- Director François Ozon
- Cast Charlotte Rampling, Ludivine Sagnier, Charles Dance, Jean-Marie Lamour, Marc Fayolle, Mireille Mossé
- Genre Crime, Thriller
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Fat Girl
(À ma soeur!)
Watching her beautiful older sister be desired, Anaïs struggles to come to terms with both her own body and her sister's pain.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France, Italy • 2001
- Director Catherine Breillat
- Cast Anaïs Reboux, Roxane Mesquida, Libero De Rienzo, Arsinée Khanjian, Romain Goupil, Laura Betti
- Genre Drama
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max, Apple TV, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video
Y Tu Mamá También
(Y tu mamá también)
Two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn about life — and each other.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Mexico • 2001
- Director Alfonso Cuarón
- Cast Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Diana Bracho, Verónica Langer, María Aura
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Hulu
Muriel's Wedding
A young social outcast steals her parents' money to finance a vacation to Sydney.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Australia, France • 1994
- Director P.J. Hogan
- Cast Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths, Sophie Lee, Roz Hammond, Belinda Jarrett
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube, Hoopla
A Brighter Summer Day
(牯嶺街少年殺人事件)
A colorful coming of age odyssey set against the backdrop of 1960s Taiwan.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan • 1991
- Director Edward Yang
- Cast Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Elaine Jin, Chen Shiang-Chyi
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
A Room with a View
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 1985
- Director James Ivory
- Cast Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Maggie Smith, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, Simon Callow
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Criterion Channel, TCM, Max Amazon Channel, Britbox Apple TV Channel , Max, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Fandango At Home, Amazon Video, YouTube
Céline and Julie Go Boating
(Céline et Julie vont en bateau)
Brought together by chance, two young women playfully switch identities until the lines separating reality from fantasy begin to blur.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1974
- Director Jacques Rivette
- Cast Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Bulle Ogier, Marie-France Pisier, Barbet Schroeder, Nathalie Asnar
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel
The End of Summer
(小早川家の秋)
The Kohayakawa family is thrown into distress when childlike father Manbei takes up with his old mistress.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Japan • 1961
- Director Yasujirō Ozu
- Cast Ganjiro Nakamura, Setsuko Hara, Yôko Tsukasa, Michiyo Aratama, Keiju Kobayashi, Masahiko Shimazu
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kanopy, Criterion Channel