REVIEW: KJ Apa and Maia Mitchell Make Quite the Pair in The Last Summer

72 days seems like a long time, but in actuality it goes by faster than many think. In The Last Summer, for 10 young adults, they have 72 days before they take the next step in their young lives and that step is college. Before they head off, each of the 10 characters is trying to make the most of the days they have left and, for some, try and find who they want to be before they head on their next adventure..

To tell this story, the audience follows five intersecting stories about love, friendship, and a slew of other interesting things. Each story has an element in it that the audience can relate to and some that may leave them scratching their heads. From breaking up with your significant other before heading off to college to reuniting with your childhood sweetheart, there is something for everyone. However, not all the story lines are interesting enough to make you want to learn more about certain characters. The movie is filled with too many characters that the audience never develops a full connection to any of them.

KJ Apa and Maia Mitchell’s storyline is probably the most interesting one in the movie. The two play Griffin and Phoebe, who reunite at party at the beginning of Summer after not seeing one another since childhood. The nice thing about KJ and Maia is that they have wonderful chemistry with one another which helps push their storyline along. Plus their storyline features an interesting twist towards the end, which you can see a mile coming but will still leave the audience goers rooting for the two of them. It is a shame they didn’t make an entire movie based solely on their storyline because these two are that good together. Here’s hoping we see them in another movie together or maybe a guest appearance on either Riverdale or Good Trouble.

Sosie Bacon’s storyline is also pretty interesting, but there is not enough meat to build the story. Sosie plays Audrey, who spends the Summer taking care of a young girl named, Lila. The connection between the two characters is a fun one and their storyline could be really, really good, but we spend a majority of the movie focused on the other storylines that hers gets shoved to the side compared to the others.

For those looking to watching something on Netflix that is somewhat entertaining and will help waste a couple of hours this movie is for you. Fans of KJ Apa and Maia Mitchell will also really enjoy this movie because, as I said, the two are really enjoyable to watch on screen together.

Grade: C