The best movies to start the summer off right

Have a great summer, readers of Polygon. Now that the weather is warming up, there is plenty to do. You could go to the beach! Go workout with some friends! Read a good book! Head to an air-conditioned cinema and watch the latest blockbuster event!

Whatever your summer plans, we’ve got movies to accompany them. As a staff, we’ve put our heads together and come up with a selection of movies to get you in the mood for summer, and enhance your enjoyment of the season once you’re there. Each week we’ll update this list with an additional item so you can join us at Polygon’s informal summer film festival.

To enjoy!

Everyone wants something!!

Image: Paramount Pictures

Year: 2016
Genre: Comedy
Duration: 1h 57m
Director: Richard Linklater
Form: Blake Jenner, Zoey Deutch, Tyler Hoechlin

Ring in the summer with one of the best coming-of-age movies And one of the best summer films of the last ten years.

Richard Linklater returns to his roots once again in this college comedy about a baseball team in 1980s Texas, set in the last days of summer vacation before school starts. New freshmen arrive, upperclassmen prove their superiority, and everyone wants to have fun.

Showcasing the adventures of young people with a lot of confidence and even more time, the film works because of the grounded feel of the setting and the excellent cast. Wyatt Russell and Glen Powell stand out in scene-stealing roles, but everyone is game in this ensemble piece, bringing to life both the experience of being on a sports team and being on a college campus. —Piet Volk

Everyone wants something!! streams for free with ads on Pluto TV and is available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon, AppleGoogle Play and Vudu.

Before sunrise

Year: 1995
Genre: Romance
Duration: 1h 45m
Director: Richard Linklater
Form: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Romance is the stuff of summer. Whether it’s friendships that turn into lifelong love or situations that turn into lifelong lessons, the essence of the summer months is inseparable from the excitement that comes with being with someone who truly understands you for who you are. Before sunrise‘s Jesse and Céline, played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, illustrate this perfectly. Their love is both archetypal and multifaceted; simple but inevitably complicated by the feeling of never having enough time to do, say, or fully feel everything that is in your heart and mind. Linklater’s Before trilogy is one of the greatest love stories ever captured on film, and it’s really no coincidence that every installment in the series is set in the summer. There is a season for all things, but no other season gets as much love as summer. —Toussaint Egan

Before sunrise is available for digital rental or purchase at Amazon, AppleGoogle Play and Vudu.

Summer of the soul

Sly Stone performs to a huge audience in the background in Summer of Soul

Year: 2021
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 1h 58m
Director: quest love
Form: N/A

Questlove’s Oscar-winning documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival is the perfect watch for you and your loved ones this summer. Overlapping with Woodstock, and boasting an equally impressive musical line-up, the festival was nevertheless overlooked in comparison to the other major musical event taking place in New York at the time. The Doctor digs deep into this lack of awareness and access, while simultaneously showing off the incredible talents of Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and many more.

With fantastic musical performances and insightful context from modern interviews, it’s equally suitable for a summer movie to watch or to set the scene as a mood setter while you’re having brunch or playing games or other summer activities. —PV

Summer of the soul is streaming Disneyplus And Huluand is available for digital rental or purchase at Amazon, AppleGoogle Play and Vudu.

It follows

Year: 2014
Genre: Horror
Duration: 1h 40m
Director: David Robert Mitchell
Form: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Olivia Luccardi

Summer is a season that always feels like it exists in some creepy existence twilight zone dimension. The weather is getting hotter and people are just starting to act…well, stranger. It follows is certainly not the first supernatural horror thriller set during the summer, but in my humble opinion it is one of the best.

David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 film is my go-to summer movie because the world straddles the boundaries of mundane and surreal, desolation and idyllic, adolescence and adulthood. It’s about a group of teens who tackle a vicious supernatural curse that haunts them as the spirit of Puritan punishment manifests where adults are suspiciously absent or clearly disinterested in the horrors that surround them to the point that they almost border on complicity. It follows is just a damn good movie through and through, but one that feels especially perfect to watch during the summer. -AT

It follows streams on Netflix and is available for digital rental or purchase at Amazon, AppleGoogle Play and Vudu.

Break: school is out

Year: 2001
Genre: Family
Duration: 1h 24m
Director: Chuck Sheetz
Form: Andrew Lawrence, Rickey D’Shon Collins, Jason Davis

When I think of summer, I think of Break: school is out. The direct-to-video movie based on the 1997 adventure comedy series just came out around the time I graduated from elementary school and hit me right in the middle of the night. feels. The story of TJ Detweiler dealing with the disappointment of being separated from his regular group of friends dawned on me as the reality of aging and drifting apart from my own close-knit group of friends became clearer to me.

The film is a perfect summary of everything that made the original interruption series so entertaining: quirky characters, perfect gags and an absurdly over-the-top premise of a conniving former education minister who tries to do away with summer vacation across the country with his army of ninja operatives. Strip all that away, though, and you’ve still got a very touching coming-of-age story about a kid getting used to the idea of getting older while also learning to enjoy the best of life right now. -AT

Break: school is out is streaming Disneyplusand available for digital rental or purchase at Amazon, AppleGoogle Play and Vudu.