Parents' Guide to

Last Summer

By Jennifer Green, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Turkish coming-of-age tale has language, sex, drinking.

Movie NR 2021 101 minutes
Last Summer Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Not every teen romance catches the blend of exuberance and awkwardness of youth with as much as authenticity as this film. Set in Turkey, Last Summer watches its characters experiment with alcohol and sex without judging them for it. When they come to a new level of maturity at the end of summer, we believe it. The film shows this innocence and growth in ways both obvious -- siblings forgoing a final night of partying for a last family dinner -- and symbolic, like Deniz stripping off a scab once and for all. The lead actors, particularly those playing Deniz and Asli, are totally credible as teens figuring out who they are. In one perceptive scene, they both say their only wish for when they grow up is to not be like their parents.

Deniz's mindless habit of stacking random items he finds and balancing them on each other feels symbolic as well of his figuring out what he can and cannot control in life. When their dad offers his middle-aged wisdom that there is "always something to discover" as you grow up, it feels like a summary of the story being told here. The teen years are indeed full of angst and mischief, but they mostly end happily. It could be lost on non-local audiences why the film is set in 1997 because the story feels relevant and contemporary, minus cell phones, and the seaside summer setting is both beautiful and a perfect backdrop for this coming-of-age tale of freedom and growth.

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate