Publication Date: 10-08-2025

Hell of a Summer (2025) review

Dir. Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★

It’s very inspiring to see the next generation of horror filmmakers already getting a head-start on their debut features. I just wish they were, how do I say it? Better.

Kyle Mooney’s Y2K has the potential to be a funny, gnarly sendup of the titular panic that had a large portion of society convinced technological devastation was imminent at the dawn of a new millennium. Instead, it was silly, superfluous, and largely spared total ignominy thanks to its inclusions of analog/early-digital visuals. Now, the very-young directing duo of Billy Bryk (25) and Finn Wolfhard (22, of Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Stranger Things fame) collaborated to make Hell of a Summer, a horror-comedy that takes the piss out of the surplus of slasher movies set at summer camps.

In the spirit of Friday the 13th with some spurts of human drama that recall Happy Campers, the film chronicles the mishaps that occur at Camp Pineway, most notably those caused by a masked killer who is slicing up people all over the campgrounds. Our lead is Jason (Fred Hechinger), a 24-year-old geek who adores everything about Camp Pineway. His ceaseless cheeriness puts a smile on your face, even beyond when you’re laughing at his own ineptitude brought on by his arrested development. Jason is also the target of a lot of ire from other camp counselors, including Claire (Abby Quinn), on whom he has a crush, a theater kid named Ezra (Matthew Finlan), and a social media influencer named Demi (Pardis Saremi) because it’s 2025 and all movies featuring young people have to have one of these. Naturally, when the bodies start piling up, everyone suspects Jason is the killer.

Because Bryk and Wolfhard don’t develop these characters, there’s little sustenance to Hell of a Summer, which begins to feel like a retread of formula the longer it goes. Potshots are taken at the various archetypes that populate the movie, but when characters are this thin, they barely register a burn even when a deserved blow is delivered. The only one who impresses is Hechinger because he is afforded the most screentime. Others like Julia Doyle, who plays a vegan counselor, or Julia Lalonde, a goth psychic, don’t even contribute enough to leave the faintest impression.

Of course, Wolfhard’s Chris and his partner Shannon (Krista Nazaire) are given some opportunities to make use of their screentime, which is charming if only because of the innocence their little love story draws upon. Arguably the funniest supporting character is Ari (Daniel Gravelle), who wants to be a filmmaker, but is taken out by his peanut allergy. Sidebar: as someone with a tree nut allergy, I just want to note how in the past two weeks, I’ve seen two hilarious portrayals of such an allergy. Prior to seeing Hell of a Summer, the other was in a recent episode of the newly (re)-revived Beavis & Butt-Head series. I love it. For every earnest, sensitive portrayal of nut allergies in TV (IE: the Arthur episode “Binky Goes Nuts”), we need a humorous one, and I’m happy to see comedy writers deliver.

More could have also been done with Bobby’s character, especially in light of how his insecurities create tension with his buddy Chris (Wolfhard) and Chris’s partner Shannon (Krista Nazaire), the latter of whom does not reciprocate Bobby’s interest. Bryk gives himself a good, well-grounded line or two. He’s also a good enough performer to finesse some of his character’s threadbare routines, like when Bobby speculates that the killer must be a bear because of a convoluted theory involving Miley’s veggie burgers. It’s not a great joke, but it’s funnier in the moment than, say, when the killer pulls out a jar of peanut butter to torment aspiring filmmaker Ari (Daniel Gravelle), who has a peanut allergy.

You get the feeling with maybe a little bit more experience as performers, and perhaps another five-or-more years worth of exposure to working with other horror writers that Bryk and Wolfhard might’ve crafted something that felt a bit more impactful. In their attempt to parody and reinvent the slasher genre, the writing/directing pair don’t meaningfully accomplish either.

For either of those things to happen, a stronger voice was needed. Christopher Landon would’ve been an ideal consultant for the young pair. Disappointing is it too that most, if not all, of the kills take place off-screen, a horrible cop-out for a film with genre reinvention as one of its primary goals amidst an era where the grotesque is now shown on-screen in explicit detail. This is a mildly amusing concept more than a complete film, but if it’s a launchpad that leads to something more dynamic from the pair — and I harbor strong optimism that will be the case — than it was not only worth it, but it was a more promising debut than something like Puddle Cruiser.

Starring: Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Billy Bryk, Finn Wolfhard, Pardis Saremi, Rosebud Baker, Adam Pally, Susan Coyne, Krista Nazaire, Matthew Finlan, Daniel Gravelle, Julia Doyle, and Julia Lalonde. Directed by: Billy Bryk and Finn Wolfhard.