Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- nostalgic
- eerie
- foreboding
- horror movie night
- midnight movie
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an effective but derivative nostalgia-horror mystery whose late jolts and dark finale are stronger than its slow buildup.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Davey and his friends investigate their police-officer neighbor through spying, cameras, walkie-talkies, and amateur evidence gathering.
The film foregrounds 1980s suburbia, paper routes, basement gatherings, walkie-talkies, and teenage crushes while building a serial-killer thriller.
The teenagers repeatedly watch and document their neighbor, transforming familiar homes and streets into spaces of concealed threat.
Davey and his friends begin with summer spying and amateur detective games before their investigation becomes genuinely dangerous.
Films like Summer of 84, and why
Disturbia
shared coming-of-age horror, suburban surveillance, teenage friendship, and 1980s nostalgia
The Clovehitch Killer
shared adolescent mystery, suburban unease, serial-killer suspicion, and nostalgia-driven genre storytelling
It
shared teen ensemble, suburban horror, friendship, and dark genre escalation
Super 8
shared 1980s setting, teenage camaraderie, mystery investigation, and horror atmosphere
Movie Details
- Directors
- Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell, François Simard
- Release Date
- 2018-08-10
- Runtime
- 106 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (1521)
Cast
- Graham Verchere
- Judah Lewis
- Caleb Emery
- Cory Gruter-Andrew
- Tiera Skovbye
- Rich Sommer
- Jason Gray-Stanford
- J. Alex Brinson
- William MacDonald
- Harrison Houde
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Summer of 84 about?
- A nostalgic suburban summer turns into a chilling amateur investigation when four teenagers suspect their police-officer neighbor is a serial killer.
- What is Summer of 84 like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Summer of 84 as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Summer of 84 violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Summer of 84 as brutal.
- What did critics think of Summer of 84?
- Critics broadly found the film an effective but derivative nostalgia-horror mystery whose late jolts and dark finale are stronger than its slow buildup.
- Which films are like Summer of 84?
- Films with a similar feel include Disturbia, The Clovehitch Killer, It, and Super 8.
- How long is Summer of 84?
- Summer of 84 runs 106 minutes.
- Where can I watch Summer of 84?
- In United States, Summer of 84 is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube.
