Hot Summer Nights

In the summer of 1991, a grieving teenager named Daniel Middleton arrives in a sleepy Cape Cod town carrying little more than a suitcase and a cloud of sadness. His father has just died, and his mother, at a loss, ships him off to stay with his aunt. Daniel is quiet, awkward, the kind of kid who blends into wallpaper. But that summer, he stumbles into a world of drugs, danger, and first love that will remake him entirely.

Elijah Bynum's directorial debut is a sun-baked crime drama soaked in neon and 90s nostalgia. It borrows heavily from Scorsese, with voiceover narration, slow-motion tracking shots, and a soundtrack stacked with new wave hits. But the film's real engine is Timothée Chalamet, who plays Daniel with a jittery intensity that signals stardom was just around the corner. Shot just after Call Me by Your Name and before Lady Bird, this is Chalamet in a darker, more volatile register.

The film premiered at South by Southwest in 2017 and was picked up by A24, but it never found a wide audience. It grossed just over $246,000 worldwide and earned mixed reviews. Still, it has developed a cult following, especially among fans who want to see Chalamet before he was a household name, playing a kid who learns the hard way that easy money comes with a price. [edit]

Daniel Middleton is sixteen years old and lost. His father has died, and his mother, overwhelmed by her own grief, sends him to spend the summer with his aunt in a small town on Cape Cod. The year is 1991. Daniel arrives in a place where everyone seems to know everyone else, where the days are long and hot, and where the local teenagers spend their nights at drive-in movies and beach parties. He is an outsider, bookish and nervous, with no idea how to fit in.

That changes when he meets Hunter Strawberry. Hunter is everything Daniel is not: confident, charming, and dangerously smooth. He runs the local marijuana trade, selling dime bags to kids and quarter ounces to bored housewives. When Hunter gets spooked by a police car and shoves a stash into Daniel's hands, a partnership is born. Hunter sees Daniel's clean-cut face as an asset. Daniel sees a way out of his grief, a chance to become someone new.

The two boys strike a deal with Dex, a volatile supplier from Boston who looks at them like they are already dead. Dex warns them: cross me, and you will not see it coming. But the money is too good. Daniel and Hunter build a small empire, selling pot to half the town. Daniel starts to enjoy the confidence that comes with cash and status. He starts to feel like he belongs.

Then there is McKayla. She is Hunter's younger sister, beautiful and restless, with a wild streak that draws Daniel in. Hunter tells him to stay away. Daniel does not listen. Their romance begins at a drive-in movie, when McKayla flees her abusive boyfriend and asks Daniel for a ride home. It deepens at the summer carnival, where they share a kiss that triggers a brutal fight with McKayla's ex and his friends. Daniel is beaten, but he does not back down. He is in love, and he is in too deep.

As the summer heats up, the drug operation attracts attention. Dex demands more money. The local police start sniffing around. And the tension between Daniel and Hunter, fueled by jealousy over McKayla, begins to crack their partnership. News reports warn of a hurricane named Bob, barreling toward Cape Cod. The storm is coming, and it will not leave anything standing.[edit]