“Griffin In Summer” Makes A Theatre Kid’s First Crush Funny, Messy And Real
Precocious 14-year-old Griffin Nafly would rather stage his play than mime to a pop hit. He calls his mum by her first name, treats friends like co-workers, and spends school holidays polishing Regrets Of Autumn, a drama about marriage, martinis, and regret. Writer-director Nicholas Colia makes his feature debut with Griffin In Summer, led by newcomer Everett Blunck with support from Melanie Lynskey, Owen Teague, Abby Ryder Fortson, and Kathryn Newton.
The kid who stars in this – actor Everett Blunck – is the same kid who stars in the hit film The Plague from #Cannes2025 this year. He's going to be major after The Plague hits theaters (opening in December/January) but this film Griffin in Summer is actually his first lead role. https://t.co/t1v3dyKNz6 pic.twitter.com/agWRoha2yw
— Alex B. (@firstshowing) August 12, 2025
Griffin’s routine tilts when a twenty-something handyman, Brad, turns up to fix things around the house. The noise is irritating, then interesting, once Griffin learns Brad is a performance artist picking up jobs before heading back to New York. Infatuation kicks in, and our playwright starts finding ways to write Brad into his work-in-progress. That spark, older, cooler, totally out of reach, drives the comedy and the cringe in equal measure. Remember your first crush on someone who felt impossibly adult?
Not a coming out, a coming of age.
Colia has said the idea grew from digitising his old home videos and spotting the “unintentional humour of kids in bad wigs with lines drawn on their faces drinking fake martinis,” adding that “that part of Griffin definitely is me.” It’s personal, and it shows. The film plays like a clear-eyed first-love story that happens to be queer, without turning into a lesson or a lecture.
🎬 Dive into summertime magic with 'Griffin in Summer'! Nicholas Colia's debut, featuring stellar performances by Everett Blunck and Melanie Lynskey, is a must-see. Has anyone else been captivated by its unique charm? 🌞✨ #Movies #FilmDebut#GriffinInSummer pic.twitter.com/055DJa9nXp
— Silver Reel (@SilverReel) August 10, 2025
Festival wins and strong early reviews.
The film premiered at the Tribeca Festival on 6 June 2024 and took home the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, plus Best Screenplay and a special jury mention for Colia. Critics have stayed warm on it; as of today, it sits at 94% on the Tomatometer from 16 reviews.
Where and when you can watch it.
Griffin In Summer opens in select cinemas on 29 August 2025 via Vertical. The first trailer is out now if you want a taste before tickets go on sale. At DNA, we love seeing a small film nail the nerves and thrill of a first crush, and this one looks ready to land.
The film understands theatre-kid ambition, the siren call of adulthood, and the chaos of feelings that do not fit neatly on a page. Blunck’s Griffin is smug, clever, and painfully sincere, which is exactly why he’s funny. Lynskey steadies the chaos as a mother who wants her kid outside with actual teenagers, not characters in his head. Teague’s Brad has just enough mystery to fuel Griffin’s imagination without turning him into a fantasy. That balance of heart, humour, and a little ache is what keeps the story grounded.
