Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
After suspecting that their police officer neighbor is a serial killer, a group of teenage friends spend their summer spying on him and gathering evidence, but as they get closer to discovering the truth, things get dangerous.
Summer of 84 rides familiar Rear Window/Stranger Things territory with a group of suburban teens investigating a suspected serial killer next door, keeping it firmly in well-trodden 80s nostalgia horror. The plot is competent but derivative, leaning heavily on genre conventions and the retro aesthetic trend of the mid-2010s. Acting from the young cast is solid but unremarkable. Cinematography captures the suburban summer mood adequately without distinctive visual flair. Where the film genuinely earns credit is its ending, which subverts expectations with a genuinely dark and disturbing conclusion that refuses the typical genre resolution — it's a legitimately brave choice that elevates the film above its formulaic setup and lingers with the viewer.