My First Summer

It felt very age appropriate, especially with the dialogue. It tackles the heavy themes in the film quite well, especially that of childhood trauma, hallucinations, and anxiety. I wasn't a fan of the police characters, as they felt like a stereotype of incompetent police characters. It's Australian (instant bonus) Felt quite slow at times, not a lot of supporting character development. I enjoyed the fact that the majority of the film was the two girls forming a friendship, as opposed to just rushing into love. I heavily loved the aesthetic and feel of this film. It's very calming and relaxing and I appreciate how there's no sort of violence in this film at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. An excellent script from Katie Found, who also directed, and beautiful performances from leads Markella Kavenagh and Maiah Stewardson. The scenes between Claudia and Grace, both 16, were written and directed with a perfect balance of taste and authenticity. Well done to all.

What a simple yet lovely story the chemistry between the two leads was great. The ending made me cry a little. Claudia went through something very traumatizing and terrifying and she fought confort, happiness, protection and love through Grace. I truly enjoyed it.

A beautiful story about two teenage girls discovering love, trust, happiness, life and recovering. I was really touched by this story. Besides, the photography in this is just beautiful. It became one of my favorite movies of all times.

I have never written a review for a movie ever but this deserved one. This turned out to be my absolute favourite movie and an Australian movie? Even better! I genuinely hope they make a second movie because this was just perfect. Great song choice, great acting, its all perfect. They did a fantastic job.

Was so cute, even when it was evident that they had low budget I think they did it great, the photography was beautiful, the story kind of interesting, and the actresses were absolutely fenomenal, I was really surprised of how I liked it.

Cute, gay and summery, (which is everything I was looking for) while also dealing with hard topics. If your looking for some soft and girly coming of age story this one is for you <3 PS: tw suicide! The mc's mom took her own life and she's dealing with trauma.

There's some obvious lack of experience here but as a first feature on a low budget, the effort and potential is evident too. The real star in the cinematography. Just beautiful. First class. The locations and light are also wonderful but that's the cinematographer bringing it to life. Country Victoria is prime cinematic territory. The music too is also very good. A little irony there as with a female writer/director, female main cast and a lesbian story, it's Matthew Chuang who shines. It's often slow and dull. The story seems thin and unrealistic. It doesn't hold water. (Excuse the pun). If there had been some maturity in the screenplay, the deficiencies in the story could have been overcome. The two leads deserved some more interaction with some substance. All that time alone with not enough going on between them. Markella Kavenagh isn't always convincing either but much of that is her character. It's not a realistic one. All of the supporting cast have cliched dialogue and a lack of realism. This is again, down to the writing. The direction is nice at times. The lipstick scene in particularly is quite touching. The editor and director working together have wisely chosen some of those beautiful images to insert along the way. The close ups of the flowers etc. Or that could have been the intent all along. I keep coming back to that because it's the standout. I know nothing about the director but hopefully she is young and in time, will develop. Certainly in the screenplay department. Often directors think they're writers too. Rare is the person who can successfully pull off both. There's certainly a lot to like. Just not there yet. A good effort.