Review of The Kings of Summer (2013) by Michelle W — 05 Jun 2013

It starts strong but loses me after about the first 3rd. Mainly, the lead teen male character is a dick, and it's not cool. He is such a dick sometimes, without 'earning' my empathy, that it's hard for me to follow along when the story gets emotional, and so the moments that are supposed to be meaningful fall completely flat and I feel distant from the characters.

There's also an undertone of mysongeny that doesn't need to be there and isn't cool or funny. Namely, the lead calls a girl who isn't being a bitch - a bitch among other things, and she silently takes it like an idiot doll who can't think for herself.

And he never apologizes for it. Later in the film, the boy saves the helpless girl from a bad situation and he ends up holding that over her head.