Two childhood friends reconnect while working as counselors at a summer camp, but their growing romancenis interupted when they accidentally kill a fellow counselor.
Cruel Summer is a film that combines sapphic storytelling and a satirical take on the horror genre. When crafting the aesthetic of the film, I took inspiration from classic slashers
The budget for our film
We will be taking our crew on location for all three filming days, which means funding will mostly be spent on the lodge that will double as both our crew headquarters and our filming location, food, and transforming our set into the 1980s.
A long time in the making
I have been crafting the story of Cruel Summer for two years now, and with each day I work on it, I fall more in love with the story that I’m hoping to tell. As a filmmaker, I always am striving to tell the kind of stories that I felt I was missing growing up.
Queer Cinema
I also pay homage to the stylistic aspects of queer cinema in the past decades, including influence from films like But I’m A Cheerleader and Booksmart.
A long Journey
Making this film happen has been a large undertaking so far and the journey will only be harder from here. But I truly believe that any worthwhile piece of art should be a labor of love and time. By its nature, this is a film that is going to take more funding than an average thesis film due to our location, time period, and genre.
Genres combined
Cruel Summer is a story that is a culmination of my love of the horror genre and queer storytelling. Steph and Heather have been with me for two years and I hope that anybody who sees this film will love watching their story as much as I do.
Summer Camp 1987
The year is 1987, and Steph has returned to her childhood summer camp to be a counselor. Heather, her childhood friend and first crush also there working as a counselor.
Everything is not what it seems.
In an attempt to cover up an accidental slaying, Heather and Steph spin up a tale of a masked killer in the woods, throwing the camp into chaos and forcing the girls to find a way to keep the fictional killer alive in the mind's of the panicked campers.
Any support you can give our film would be appreciated.
Kickstarter
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Other Support
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Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any doubts or queries, you might find it helpful to refer to a list of faq that we have compiled for your convenience.
This is a thesis film through the School of Visual Studies department at the University of Missouri and our crew is based in Columbia, Missouri.
You can support our project financially on Kickstarter! If the Kickstarter campaign has closed and you would still like to support, there is a donation feature through PayPal on this site.
Cruel Summer will premiere in early May at Ragtag Cinema in Columbia, Missouri as apart of the senior thesis showcase. Following this the film will be submitted to festivals and other forms of distribution.
This website will post regular updates and announcements but you can also find us at @cruelsummerfilm on Instagram and TikTok.
