“Hot Summer Nights” The flashy look is just a pretense – brilliant technique and thinking

Elaborate production intentionally reminiscent of past youth crime films

As mentioned earlier, "Hot Summer Nights" is set in America in 1991. It was a few months before Freddie Mercury died, and just after the release of " Terminator 2: Judgment Day " (as an aside, "Silence The Silence of the Lambs " and Disney's animated film " Beauty and the Beast " were released around that time). It was a time when mobile phones and the Internet had not yet become widespread, and the world was moving at a slow pace.

Daniel (Timothée Chalamet), who lost his father just after The Graduate from high school and became a recluse, is sent by his mother to spend the summer in a seaside town where his aunt lives. While staying there, he meets a marijuana dealer, Hunter (Alex Roe), and becomes absorbed in the marijuana business to fill the gap in his lost feelings. He also secretly meets Hunter's sister, McKayla (Maika Monroe), who is said to be the most beautiful woman in town, and begins to feel like he's living.

“Hot Summer Nights” (c)2017 IMPERATIVE DISTRIBUTION, LLC. All rights reserved.

This story is a classic youth crime movie. The protagonist commits a crime and experiences happiness and depravity. This style can be seen in old films such as " Rebel Without a Cause " (1955), " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), and " Fight Club " (1999), as well as more recent films such as " Baby Driver " (2017) and " American Animals " (2018). The emotional ups and downs from boredom to happiness to despair are depicted dramatically and emotionally, making it easy for viewers to empathize with the immaturity that comes from youth and innocence. The gap between the exhilaration of being an Jack Reacher and the harsh reality is also a common theme.

Also, because it is a story that has been familiar and fascinated by everyone for a long time, it creates a certain oldies atmosphere. In this film, it can be said that it also contributes to creating a feeling of "a little old" in 1991. While watching the film, the audience is reminded of the youth crime films they have seen in the past, and this film seems to be from much earlier than 2018. It's a very interesting device.

“Hot Summer Nights” (c)2017 IMPERATIVE DISTRIBUTION, LLC. All rights reserved.

The production of an unknown narrator is also excellent. This is a technique that was used in recent films such as Vice (2018). It piques the audience's interest in who is doing the narration, and at the same time adds value to the story being told as a rumor, legend, or heroic tale. If it is told by the person himself or someone connected to him, it becomes an inside joke, but if it is told by a "voice from heaven," the element of fiction is strengthened. However, by having it told by someone who is not directly related but lives in the same world, the story itself gives the impression of being something that "should be passed down."

"Hot Summer Nights" aims for exactly this effect, and succeeds in naturally showing the "fait accompli" that the protagonist Daniel has become a legendary figure in the town. It is also a kind of literary device.

An excellent title indicating “a harbinger of destruction”