Trio transcend genre film in Summer of ’84
Montreal trio Roadkill Superstar stay true to their horror-loving roots while exploring more nuanced territory in dark coming-of-age drama
Stranger Things this is not, quite.
Montreal filmmaking trio Yoann-Karl Whissell, sister Anouk Whissell and her partner François Simard — collectively known as Roadkill Superstar — attended the world première of their second feature, Summer of ’84, at the Sundance Film Festival Monday night. Though the movie’s premise makes it sound like a distant cousin of the above-noted Netflix hit series, such comparisons felt far off the mark by film’s end.
That came just before 2 a.m. Tuesday. Summer of ’84 screened as part of Sundance’s midnight film series, which was the first clue that the movie was hiding a twist or two to separate it from the feel-good fray.
When you consider that Roadkill Superstar’s previous film, Turbo Kid, was a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max and BMX-inspired, blood-splattered romp that also premièred in Sundance’s midnight section, the picture gets clearer. And yet Summer of ’84 is strikingly different from Turbo Kid.
Much of the movie does in fact exist in a Stranger Things-esque universe, as 15-year-old Davey (Vancouver’s Graham Verchere) and his three pals investigate Davey’s theory that the police officer who lives next door is in fact a serial killer. We’re in coming-of-age territory, with a certain debt to the oeuvre of Steven Spielberg.
“It’s a story about friendship,” Anouk said Monday afternoon, as I sat down with her and her cohorts during a Telefilm Canada lunch celebrating Canadian films at Sundance.
There are also broader themes at play, she opined.
“In the ’80s there was a shift. Everybody felt safe in their suburban homes, and then in the mid-’80s, on the news, you started to hear about kids being kidnapped. News programs talked about that more and people got scared; they started locking their doors. This film challenges that feeling of security.”
“It’s about the fear of strangers,” Yoann-Karl said. “That person that you see every day — do you really know them? For me, it’s also about looking back on childhood as an adult, at the pain of being a child and realizing what it means to grow up. Face it: being an adult sucks. There are consequences to your actions. That loss of innocence is incredibly violent.”
At this point, Turbo Kid fans may be wondering if Roadkill Superstar has gone all soft. The answer is yes, and no. Summer of ’84 acknowledges the crew’s horror-loving roots while exploring more nuanced emotional territory.
“We want to explore and try new things,” Yoann-Karl said. “We don’t want to be cornered into just one style. We have upcoming projects in horror, action and comedy. We want to make all kinds of movies.
“If we had come out with Turbo Kid 2 right away, we would have done 3, 4 and 5,” Simard said. “That’s not what we wanted. We wanted to do something else first. Turbo Kid will always be our baby, and we can’t wait to make the followup; but we wanted to expand our horizons, and maybe be taken more seriously by people with money.”
In other words, they’re ambitious. Fair or not, genre film — which includes horror, action films, violent thrillers and fantasy — gets a bad rap from the mainstream. And so while Turbo Kid opened all kinds of doors for Roadkill Superstar following its Sundance launch in 2015 — eventually being sold in 60 countries — its appeal was limited to the legions of genre film fans who helped turn it into a cult classic.
Summer of ’84 flirts with crossover appeal, but as noted above, the film is not a complete disavowal of the group’s gory roots.
“To begin with, it’s rated R — a solid R,” noted Yoann-Karl.
“It goes dark,” Simard warned. “At the same time,” Anouk said, “some fans of Stranger Things are waiting for Summer of ’84, and are interested.”
Those fans won’t be disappointed. There is humour and a touching camaraderie to the film. Viewers just have to be ready for that bubble to burst, in a big way.
“The script pulls no punches,” Simard said. “The first part of the film with the boys is fun, but we were really surprised at where it goes. We said to ourselves, ‘This is bold, and it totally fits with our style.’
“Some people will like it, others won’t, but everyone will remember it. No one will remain indifferent.”
Judging by the enthusiastic reaction Monday night, Summer of ’84 will have no trouble finding an audience, but it will be interesting to see how willing mainstream film fans are to go along for the ride.
Existing in that grey area between underground and mainstream is fine with Roadkill Superstar, and made them feel right at home at Sundance.
“It’s incredible,” Yoann-Karl said. “I think it’s the best festival in the world, especially for independent film. The visibility you have at Sundance, you can’t get elsewhere.”
The team was still buzzing from a filmmakers’ brunch at Robert Redford’s ranch on Saturday morning, where the festival co-founder gave a speech that resounded profoundly in them.
“It’s super motivating to see to what point Sundance is pro-creators,” Yoann-Karl said. “They want to push works that are different from what’s done in Hollywood. That mission is commendable. I’m telling you, after a speech by Robert Redford, you want to run outside, grab a camera and make a film.”