Summer Day in Brooklyn

Summer Day in Brooklyn tells the compact but very lovely story of two women who decide to extend their first date from the previous evening into the next day.

Director Josh Cox, who also handles writing, sound and cinematography here, has created a film that ultimately showcases that lightning in a bottle moment where two people, whether by chance or by fate, discover that inexplicable but magical connection to one another. There isn’t an ounce of drama to be found here, no big character explorations or revelations, no jaw-dropping plot twists or big eye-catching set pieces. In fact, the film never really gets any faster than the gentle amble it sets out at from the beginning.

But that’s kind of the point. Our two characters who having just found each other, are so comfortable, so at ease with one another that by letting the film very gently float along, it bolsters the overall theme which is, when you find that person, everything else is just easy. It’s always a bold and brave decision to keep things simple, especially where others might have been tempted to do otherwise, but here it undoubtedly pays off and allows us to simply enjoy watching this beautiful connection evolve.

And over the course of the film, we do really get to see that connection blossom and continue to deepen further and further thanks to Cox’s two leads, who do a really great job in making us believe that that initial spark is becoming much, much more. The natural chemistry between Traoré and Plotts-Pineda is a real winner here, ultimately selling everything Cox is trying to do and because a great part of the film’s dialogue is inaudible by design while the film’s soundtrack plays over the scenes instead, both actors need to and do succeed in showing and not telling us this love story, each longing gaze and affectionate touch feeling as authentic and meaningful as the next.

It’s also a very crisp looking film for sure, shot completely on an iPhone which these days allows more and more filmmakers to create quite visually striking pieces such as these much more easily. But while this accessibility for filmmakers is genuinely great, such a method still does mean some drawbacks, especially when it comes to sound, which it must be said does suffer slightly here. The aforementioned soundtrack that plays over large parts of the film fits the vibe for sure, but its slightly discordant nature distracts a little where it could have probably been dialled back a bit. And in the moments where the score falls away and we have dialogue again, the ambient noise often overwhelms and isn’t quite in the right balance. But again, it’s a lovely looking and more importantly a lovely feeling film, one Cox and co. should be very proud of.

Summer Day in Brooklyn is a film that captures the wonder of fresh, new love at its inception and in the end elicits a great deal of joy and hope.