Back in 2014, Boyhood became a sensation because its production took place over nearly 12 years to depict the characters’ changes in real time. While not shot in such an extended span, 2024’s In the Summers also takes a multi-year approach to its story.

Sisters Violeta and Eva mostly live in California with their mother. However, they spend some summers in New Mexico with their father Vicente (René Pérez “Residente” Joglar).

Not the most stable figure, Vicente creates challenges for his daughters. Over the course of four summers, Violeta and Eva get to better understand their dad and also evolve into maturity.

I didn’t credit Violeta or Eva above because different actors play those roles at different points. We find Dreya Castillo, Kimaya Thais and Lio Mehiel as Violeta, and we get Luciana Quinonez, Allison Salinas and Sasha Calle as Eva.

The use of three different actors implies that Summers doesn’t take place over four consecutive years. If the movie’s time span covered such a limited range, it would need at most two performers per character and maybe only one.

But given that our Evas and Violetas go from pre-teens to adults across the movie’s span, obviously Summers covers more than just a four-year period. That allows it a bit more expansiveness than otherwise might become the case.

And it also means Summers comes with more of an ability to show real change in the characters than it might if it stayed with a shorter range of years. Of course, kids grow a lot between, say, 13 and 16, but not as much as between pre-teen and adulthood, so we get a wider array of developments.

The orientation of Summers means we spend the movie’s first 23:35 with the pre-teen daughters and then about 26 and a half minutes with younger teen versions. Only older teen Eva appears for the 15-minute third act, and the movie fills its final 27 minutes with the adult Eva/Violeta characters.

I appreciate this approach, as it allows for us to see clear shifts in the characters. That applies even to Vicente, as although he doesn’t change much physically, he develops in other ways.

Indeed, much of Summers depicts his own modest downward spiral. Granted, because Vicente never seems all that stable from the start, I can’t claim he really disintegrates.

And he never really goes “over the edge” anyway. However, Vicente does lose his way as the movie progresses, albeit with some stabs at redemption closer to the end.

Which feels pretty real, perhaps because writer/director Alessandra Lacorazza makes Summers a semi-autobiographical tale. While the final chapter offers total fiction, her own experiences pepper the first three segments, though it doesn’t always seem clear how much of the movie depicts her history.

Nonetheless, the basic tale evolves from Lacorazza’s past, and that adds some edge. We get enough of a “real vibe” to give the movie extra charge.

Lacorazza avoids too much melodrama, and she allows the different chapters to connect fairly seamlessly. We get a good take on the characters and see how they evolve over time.

Solid performances help, especially from Joglar. An inexperienced actor known for his music, Joglar doesn’t try to soften Vicente’s rough edges or make him likable but he also doesn’t turn him into a villain.

No one should expect a plot-driven affair from Summers. Instead, it acts more like a visual journal that gives us an overview of the relationship across the years, and that approach satisfies.

All of this creates an intriguing variation on the “coming of age” genre. In the Summers paints a solid portrait of its characters and becomes an engaging package.

One note: as exhibited theatrically, Summers lacks English subtitles for the many Spanish lines we hear. Lacorazza chose to do that because she felt tone and context would make the meaning clear for those who didn’t understand the words.

Which may be true for some, but I think the movie plays better with English subtitles. I get that these can create a distraction, but I found myself more distracted by my attempts to decipher the Spanish lines.

I think most non-Spanish-speaking viewers will reflexively try to figure out the dialogue and thus lose focus on the rest of the film. Apologies to the filmmaker, but after I gave the first chapter a shot, I turned on the Blu-ray’s subtitles. I just felt those better allowed me to absorb the story.

In the Summers appears in an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became an appealing presentation.

Sharpness worked well. No real softness materialized, so the movie came with solid accuracy.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Print flaws remained absent.

Colors tended toward a light sense of orange/amber and teal. Within those constraints, the hues seemed well-rendered.

Blacks looked deep and dark, while shadows offered nice delineation. The movie came with a strong image.

In addition, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack seemed perfectly workable for this kind of character piece. Though the movie concentrated on those roles, its various settings allowed it to open up to a decent degree.

This meant places like carnivals an various natural locations created a nice sense of place and space. Nothing here exactly validated your decision to buy an expensive home theater, but the soundfield felt appropriate.

Audio quality worked fine as well. The spare score showed nice warmth and range, as did the low-key effects. Those seemed accurate and offered good clarity.

Speech remained natural and concise. Again, the mix never excelled, but it did what it needed to do for this story.

We find a mix of extras here, and we open with an audio commentary from writer/director Alessandra Lacorazza. She brings in additional participants for each act, so we get editor Adam Dicterow for Part One, casting director Stephanie Yankwitt for Part Two, director of photography Alejandro Mejía for Part Three, and production designer Estefania Larrain for Part Four.

Along with these others, Lacorazza provides a running, screen-specific discussion of story/characters and autobiographical elements, cast and performances, sets and locations, editing, music and audio, cinematography,

Although Lacorazza brings in new participants at those various points, the commentary flows smoothly as a running, screen-specific affair. I suspect the sessions paused when each act ended and a new person entered, but the final product progresses seamlessly.

The only negative I take from this structure is that each act becomes largely focuses on the guest’s specialty. This means we get less of a global view of the production than I might like.

Still, the commentary moves well and covers a lot of ground. Even if it seems less broad than I might prefer, the track nonetheless delivers plenty of good information in a coherent package.

More about Lacorazza appears during Sundance Meet the Artist. This one-minute, 18-second clip allows the filmmaker to introduce herself to festival audiences. It seems superficial but harmless.

Making a Sundance Gem goes for 26 minutes, 48 seconds. It brings a panel that includes Lacorazza and actors René Pérez “Residente” Joglar, Sasha Calle, Leslie Grace and Lio Mehiel.

With “Gem”, we hear about the film’s path to the screen, Lacorazza as a director, cast, characters and performances. Although we get a smattering of insights, “Gem” largely exists to promote the movie so most of it leans toward fluff.

Another panel arrives via Filmmaker Q&A. From the movie’s NYC premiere, this 19-minute, four-second piece involves Locarazza and Joglar.

In this discussion, they touch on Joglar’s experiences as an inexperienced actor as well as a few other aspects of the production. Some of this repeats from elsewhere but Joglar adds enough new material to make “Q&A” worth a look.

Titled “More Than a Movie”, a podcast runs 44 minutes, 19 seconds. It involves Lacorazza and Joglar.

This splits into two separate interviews, so we first hear host Alex Fumero with Joglar and then Fumero with Lacorazza. Joglar looks at what brought him to the film and facets of his performance, while Lacorazza offers info related to the movie’s autobiographical elements, the production and the film’s reception/

Both segments work well, Even with all the prior programs, “More” gives us good new insights.

Seven Deleted Scenes fill a total of seven minutes, 37 seconds. These mostly offer some added exposition and a few character beats. While interesting enough on their own, none of them seem especially necessary for the story.

We also find two minutes, 33 seconds of Bloopers that offer the usual goofs and giggles. Nothing special results.

Entitled MAMI, a 2019 short film from Lacorazza lasts 11 minutes, four seconds. It depicts a young woman (Carmen Borla) stressed and frustrated by the demands of her sick and needy mother (Maga Uzo).

Apparently Lacorazza’s first stab at a narrative film, MAMI works well. It connects us to the characters in an efficient manner and tells an effective tale within the confines of its brief running time.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we conclude with an Image Gallery with 26 shots from the set. It proves banal.

The disc opens with ads for Mountains, Fremont, The Unknown Country and Signature Move.

While not a revelation, In the Summers still manages to become a reasonably compelling character tale. As it delivers snapshots of various lives, it allows us to connect the dots and follow progress in an understated manner. The Blu-ray comes with excellent visuals, appropriate audio and a nice roster of bonus materials. Summers delivers a largely engaging experience.