The 13th Summer Digital Review

4 star sinister summer on the Sunshine Coast.

The 13th Summer is a 2024 Australian psychological thriller film written by Jeremy Stanford (The Sunset Six) and directed by Tam Sainsbury (Perfect Messy Holiday, Ryder County).

It is available on UK Digital Platform from 9th September 2024, courtesy of Reel 2 Reel Films.

“I can’t just flick a switch. I just can’t. Can you just let the summer do it’s thing? You wanted me to breathe, you know, so just let me breathe.”

Ben (Nathan Phillips – Snakes on a PLane, Wolf Creek) and his wife Vee (Hannah Levien – Brand New Cherry Flavour (TV Series)) are currently going through a rough patch, mainly due to a court case involving Ben’s job as a police officer. To try and patch things up, they are heading to the beach shack where they have holidayed for the past twelve summers for some relaxation.

Things are not as expected right from the start, as they head to the main house to meet their friends Patrick (Jeremy Stanford – Relic, Blinder) and Kate (Bec Hewitt – Home and Away (TV Series)), who also holiday here every year. To their surprise, the house is occupied by a cocky young British backpacker named Alex (Ben Turland – Neighbours (TV Series)), who refuses to explain his presence, or the absence of Patrick and Kate.

This gets under the skin of the already riled up Ben, and things don’t improve any as Alex continues to make advances towards Vee, sketching her on the beach and interrupting their meals. An unfortunate altercation leads to a series of events which get progressively more complicated as the summer progresses. Is something suspicious going on or is Ben just being paranoid?

“See, I wasn’t even going to mention him. He’s jealous, right? Possessive, patriarchal. I know all about blokes like that. I had one as a father.”

The 13th Summer is a very well thought out thriller, with a beautiful setting which is used to its full potential. The characters are well developed too, we gather straight away that Ben has a poorly controlled temper and that Vee has a poorly controlled flirty streak, always a good combination, not.

When the film first started, I felt quite sure I knew where it was heading, but no, there a number of surprising twists, very satisfying. The tension building is excellent, the remote location helps with that of course as well as some very good acting performances (not including Alex’s English accent which was questionable at best).

A gripping thriller that keeps you guessing right up until the very end of the film, well worth a watch.

“Maybe he swam away. Did you check the dunes? He could be hiding in them. Ben, we have to go back.”