Summer of 84– My take on the movie with spoilers!
PLOT SUMMARY: A group of kids believe their next-door neighbour, who is also a cop, may be a serial killer and decide to take him down.
Everyone wants to earn respect, to be lauded for their accomplishments, and be called a hero. It is a fantasy that we all kind of fostered within ourselves since we were kids.
Then we grow up and realize the world is nowhere to what we thought it was. No one is coming on white horses to rescue you from your problems, and you don’t own even a pony to go help anyone. There are stories of people trying to be heroes who end up losing their life. These stories instil fear within us that diminish the small desire to be a hero.
In fact, while watching this movie, I was reminded of a cutscene in an animated comedy show where a hiker tries to intervene in a couple’s argument and he asks the wife if she’s okay. She lambastes him and tells him to go away. The husband does the same. A presenter pops up on screen and reminds the viewers if it is really worth stepping into someone’s problems and losing your life. The episode ends with the card: Don’t be a hero.
If there is one thing these four friends shouldn’t have done it was to try to be heroes.
Yes, in some stories they show kids besting murderers and hardened criminals, especially in the teenage detective books we all read as books.
The kids in the movie are shown to be entranced by them and think they too are capable of taking down a serial killer who abducts and murders teenage boys.
Despite the threat and warnings, the four friends actually believe they have a chance to take down a cop who they suspect is a serial killer.
Well, is he really?
SUMMER OF 84 Movie Plot
Most of the first half plays with your mind. These four kids are fifteen years old, newly interested in girls, read comics and play games like manhunt with walk-talkies. They’re ordinary kids, trying to be mature and thinking they have what it takes to solve a mystery even the police couldn’t.
They suspect their neighbour who is a cop, who keeps buying bags of dirt, shovels, and pickaxes but doesn’t seem to be doing any gardening. The leader of the group is certain he’s the serial killer, his friends need convincing. So do we as the movie progresses. The writer does do a good job clearing our doubts.
The bags of dirt? They were for a restoration project. The locked basement? He’s doing photography. The missing kid that was last seen with him? He’s the nephew.
Everyone, even us, are convinced he’s not the killer. Except for one boy who has grown up reading popular teenage boys mystery books. He goes to the extent of breaking into the cop's house and inspecting his basement.
SUMMER OF 84 Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Guess what? The cop was the serial killer all along. Luckily, his friend was taping it all and this is used as evidence shown to the police. The boys are called heroes but the cop has disappeared.
That night, as the boys are asleep, the ladder to the attic is lowered and the cop approaches them. Yes, the creepy part is that he had been hiding in the boy’s attic all this time. He abducts him and his friend and takes them to a forest where he lets them try to make a run for it.
The friend is immediately killed and the boy is warned that from now on, he would always have to look over his shoulder. He is let go, but we see how affected he is. No longer does he read mysteries. His other two friends don’t talk to him. He keeps wondering when the cop will return to finish the job.
In the end, he says, even serial killers have neighbours. That chilling thought will never make you want to share an elevator with your neighbours again.
The movie was a fun watch, and you do connect with the boys who are on the brink of adulthood. The cop is at his creepiest best and we like the cat and mouse games being played with us as well.
The last scene is chilling and makes you sit at the edge of your seat.
Scare scale: 3/5
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