Summeringtells a melancholiccoming-of-age storyfrom the perspectives of young girls and their mothers. Four eleven-year-olds in a Utah suburb discover a dead man’s body in the woods during the week before the start of middle school. They worry about growing up and apart with the onset of adolescence. The girls decide to lie to their mothers and embark on a mission to uncover the corpse’s identity.
Lake Bellstars as Laura, the police officer mother to Daisy (Lia Barnett). She’s become remote and disconnected since her husband abandoned them. Daisy doesn’t understand why her father left or her mother’s refusal to discuss his absence.Sarah Cooperplays Karna, the single mother of Lola (Sanai Victoria), who believes in all things spiritual.Summeringfollows the girls on their adventure while also exploring their mothers. The women come together when they realize their daughters are up to something.
Summering Connects through Female Friendships
Lake Bell and Sarah Cooper came to the film for different reasons, but agree that fostering female relationships was a critical theme. Bell had a friendshipwith director/co-writer James Ponsoldt. He wrote the story to connect with his daughter. This resonated with Bell who wanted something more from her children than Disney and Pixar animation; which also embraced independent cinema.
Lake Bell: James Ponsoldt is a friend and someone very respected on the Sundance circuit. He didThe Spectacular Now. It was very interesting for him taking on independent cinema through the lens of being a parent. Coming out of an anxiety-fueled two years, this story is ninety-percent woman and girls. I think that as a father of a daughter, he was very connected to the idea that women and little girls could have something in that Stand by Me genre. I was really drawn to that and wanted to participate in something I could show to my children. I could say, hey, Pixar is really great and Disney. But here is live-action narration through the lens of independent cinema that you can relate to. It prods and inspires real conversations.
Ponsoldt personally reached out to Cooper after seeing her popular YouTube videos. Cooper loved the idea of women being there for each other. She went through a divorce before shooting the film. Cooper didn’t have close female friends in her youth. She’s grateful to have established female bonds as an adult to help her through such a difficult time. This carried on to the production where the actresses had fantastic camaraderie on set.
Sarah Cooper: James wrote me a letter about the film. He saw my videos and thought I would relate to this character of Karna, who is a single mom. She’s quirky. My daughter is played by Sanai Victoria, a really lovely young actress. I loved the idea that the world can be a cruel place, but you can find connection and community with the people around you. The four moms, me, Lake, Ashley Madekwe, and Megan Mullally, who I’d never worked with before and was absolutely beautiful. We need people. One of the first scenes we shot was with Lake, I’m handing you coffee, and we’re cleaning the kitchen. Let’s help out. I still have in my head the look on your face. This beautiful moment where we can be there for each other. We’re not alone. I just loved the whole story.
Sarah Cooper: The three months before we shot the film, I went through a divorce. I was able to get though my divorce with female friendships. Female friendships are something I discovered very late in life. I didn’t have a group of girlfriends growing up.
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Equal Footing with Young Colleagues
I was curious how the veteran actresses mentored their young colleagues. It was surprising to hear that wasn’t really needed. Everyone was prepared and brought professional attitudes to the film.
Lake Bell: There was something really meaningful connecting to these young actresses. You’re not only thereas mother figuresbut actors. We’ve been working for a long time. They are at the beginning of their career. Lia [Barnett], who plays my daughter, she’s powerful. She’s got a very measured way of portraying characters. It was beautifully professional. I can look to young actresses and say, gosh, I really respect your process. I like empowering and meeting them at equal footing. We’re both in these scenes together. You’re kicking butt, and I’m kicking butt. As opposed to me saying, let me help you. She didn’t need any help. That was kind of fun.
Almost Getting Arrested in Utah
Cooper brought her humorous touch with a colorful anecdote. She almost got arrested driving without a license; which got an incredulous response from her co-star.
Sarah Cooper: My worst day was when I got pulled over by a cop (laughs). We had to drive ourselves to set, and I don’t know how to drive. But I also don’t know how to drive in Utah.
Lake Bell: You didn’t have a driver’s license? Really?
Sarah Cooper: You know, I was drunk and high. Just kidding! (laughs) To my credit, I was in a lane, just the wrong lane. It did work out.
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The girls' search for the identity of a man’s dead body drives the narrative.Summeringis seen entirely from a female point of view. I was curious if they thought the corpse represented how men had failed the characters.
Lake Bell: I’m liking your analysis! I look at it as innocence lost. It’s scary to think that you’re embarking on a new chapter.
Sarah Cooper: The dead body representing the failure of men… I love it. But more specifically there’s something aboutwomen being friends, listening to each other, the way we process things. That’s just different from most men, I won’t say all men, our ability to process emotion, go through things, and empathize.
