by Sandy DeVito

I have a feeling most people are going to be tempted, after watching the trailer for Summer of '84, to imply this film from Quebecois' RKSS (the team behind another 80's nostalgia film, Turbo Kid) is riding on the coattails of It and Stranger Things; and that would sort of be true. But to set the record straight, Turbo Kid came out a year before Stranger Things, and Summer of '84 has been in production as early as 2015. It has the good timing to drop right when 80's media is spectacularly popular again...and perhaps also the bad timing to come right after the particularly sharp triumph of the first half of Muschietti's It films. By which I mean, I have no idea how this film could top that one. I mean, it won't. But it has potential to be great within its own sphere.