What starts out as Mean Girls at the Beach turns into one of the most delightfully quirky movies of the season. Where did Infinite Summer come from and what exactly is it up to?
Quiet, studious Mia is eclipsed by Grete’s new friend, Sarah. They challenge each other to go on Extreme Dating, a VR app that projects romantic matches in your room and in 3D. One suitor is a hippie throwback named Dr. Mindfulness. He’s a self-professed “guru” who puts on them a Darth Vader-like mask that, in turn, introduces them to Eleusis, a “meditation” creature made of smoke that promises enlightenment. “Come out of the cocoon,” Eleusis’ pixie voice croons, extending winding tentacles of fulsome fingers that probe their psyches and soft parts. Ecstasy turns into terror as the wearers become marauding zombies.
With me so far? But wait, there’s more: Mia’s father and grandmother appear to her as holograms, Dad buckling under Grandma’s domineering control. They want Mia to study international relations, but she wants to go into anthropology. Then enter Interpol, and Infinite Summer is suddenly an action film featuring two stone-faced squabbling agents who’ve been following Dr. Mindfulness’s antics, while launching into diatribes about international surveillance and the quality of certain sandwiches.
Infinite Summer is the brainchild of Miguel Llansó, who also wrote and directed projects like Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway and Where Is My Dog? He’s given free rein to concoct a crazy quilt of images, ideas, and philosophies. He approaches all the lunacy with conviction, making it even more appealing. He might just actually believe in Eleusis.
The actors play into the madness: Teele Kaljuvee-O’Brock as Mia, Hannah Gross (of Joker and TV’s Mindhunters) as Sarah, and Johnna Rosin as Grete. Ciaron Davies plays Dr. Mindfulness, Katarina Unt, and Steve Vanoni are the detectives. The special effects aren’t half-bad, either, or just good enough to stay with you.
“This film is my confession,” says Eleusis, but confession of what? It all boils down to the creation of a “new zoo” of animals — including humans — in Tallinn, Estonia, a sanctuary to preserve animal life on the planet.
Logic isn’t the point of Infinite Summer. At its best, it reminds me of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension; the original 1953 Invaders from Mars comes to mind as well. You never know where it will take you next, what movie it will become. It has a delightful DIY quality, yet a serious undergirding. Mr. Llansó means business, whatever the hell his business is.
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Infinite Summer. Directed by Miguel Llansó. 2024. In English and Estonian. Premiering exclusively on Indiepix Unlimited. Runtime 86 minutes.