The Hottest Summer Is Comfortably Warm

The Hottest Summer starts off steamy. Yet, it doesn’t take long for things to cool off. Despite an intriguing premise, the plot arrives at a dull conclusion. In many ways, watching this romantic comedy is like observing a Roman candle come to a sputtering end, a burst of colorful flames ending in a few meager sparks.

L’Estate Più Calda in the original Italian, The Hottest Summer orbits an interesting idea. Lucia and Valentina are best friends living in the picturesque Sicilian province of Ragusa. Both are very active in their small community. Lucia is particularly passionate about a historic villa where children take part in a kind of summer camp, part of which involves an adorable herd of alpacas. Soon Nicola arrives, a man on the road to priesthood. Valentina is immediately infatuated with the handsome deacon, and begs Lucia to help her woo, or at least bed, the clergyman. Although she refuses at first, Lucia soon discovers the heart wants what it wants, and romance is a thorny road that may end all manner of relationships.

Everything about The Hottest Summer is an effort to remain breezy. That’s its strength and weakness. On the one hand, the movie flies along. Things never really get boring, but the movie sometimes blows by moments before they can sink in. Additionally, The Hottest Summer rushes to its end. Without spoiling anything, the finale is basically a series of montages wrapping things up too quickly. It feels more like a readthrough hopping along plot points rather than events with much emotional impact.

The Hottest Summer seems determined not to get strangled by serious plot threads. There are a lot of little details implying a bigger picture. Unfortunately, these crumbs only tease more interesting tastes. Instead of exploring any, the film is content to mention surface level melodramatic facts. Any implications are left for the audience to infer as they please, but the sacrifice is story. So much so the film loses, I dare say evades elements that might flesh things out, not only in interesting ways but clearer ones as well.

It’s not that a movie needs to spend several minutes dissecting a topic down to the bone. However, there’s no real sense beyond narrative necessity why certain choices are made. Consequently, backstories become murky while some motivations seem more like plot demands than character decisions. Still, The Hottest Summer is clearly meant to be a cheery melodrama.

Screenwriters Matteo Pilati, Giuseppe Paternò Raddusa, and Tommaso Triolo can, perhaps, take pride in producing a story about a priest in a sexually intimate romance that has no deeper philosophical or theological underpinnings. Zero exploration of religion, or the nature of commitment, whether to friends or a faith, is seen anywhere throughout L’Estate Più Calda. Some might argue this prevents the movie from being about anything other than good looking people having sex on the beach, but romcoms aren’t typically where folks go for intricate explorations of the human condition.

As such, The Hottest Summer is an okay romance with a hint of will-they-won’t-they. Once that’s answered, though, the drama never shifts to the consequences of the ensuing romantic entanglements. Instead, The Hottest Summer rushes to a hurried conclusion like someone trying to avoid admitting they don’t know what to say as they race out an exit.

Performances keep the film alive, although again, the script could be clearer when it comes to character motivations. For instance, Stefania Sandrelli plays Carmen, an older woman borderline obsessed with proving Nicola is up to sexual shenanigans. Sandrelli earned a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, having a 45-year career acting across decades of Italian cinema, and her ease on screen is obvious. Yet, what makes her character more than that of an elderly busybody isn’t obvious despite some implications.

Perhaps certain things are simply lost in translation. Some of the humor seems tied to a common knowledge of Italian culture such as when Nicola jokes with his father about a slogan on a t-shirt. Once or twice, I got the sense a gag may have landed better if I were more familiar with Italian as a language—wordplay doesn’t often translate well in any media. None of this is a failing of the film, but it shows The Hottest Summer might be better received by a more specific audience. For instance, Catholicism in the movie is treated like a subject viewers are supposed to be casually familiar with.

That isn’t to say someone needs to be fluent in Italian or culturally familiar with Sicily to enjoy the movie. In that respect, a shallow narrative is a strength, and there is an interesting attempt at a romantic comedy. Some of the jokes land well enough, and heartfelt performances do sell certain moments.

Alice Angelica as Valentina is as earnest in her desires as she is cringeworthy in her efforts. Her performance is a strangely satisfying mix of awkward charm and sad desperation that makes her later hurt understandable. That injury stemming from the clear sexual tension between her best friend Lucia and Nicola. Something the blind will see thanks to performances by Gianmarco Saurino and Nicole Damiani.

Director Matteo Pilati does a solid job shooting certain scenes. There’s a bright, almost pastel quality to colors throughout The Hottest Summer which helps maintain its light atmosphere. Overall, the movie never looks bad. But like the script, it never rises above the shallows.

The Hottest Summer is a simple movie. Despite an intriguing premise, it sticks to the basics of romantic comedies. Everything is treated with a lighthearted approach, though nothing ever gets so silly to seem ridiculous. Quality performances help this breezy film fly along, while almost making it unfortunate the film never goes deeper. Still, those in search of a casual comedy with a bit of spicy romance will be satisfied with one watch. The Hottest Summer may not stand the test of time, but it will hold up an afternoon.