WATCH: A theater kid crushes on the hunky handyman in this coming-of-age charmer

Precocious teen Griffin is the kind of kid who, for the school talent show, decides to stage a reading of his next play, instead of dancing along to the latest pop song like everyone else.

He’s the kind of kid who refers to his own mother by her first name, who sees his friends more as colleagues, and who’d rather spend his summer inside, hard at work on his next “masterpiece.”

How about we take this to the next level?

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You might not have been a Griffin when you were younger—but you definitely knew one.

From first-time feature-filmmaker Nicholas Colia, Griffin In Summer is a charming comedy about the kid who grew up to fast finally having to contend with some real, grown-up feelings.

As the title implies, it’s summer, and young Griffin (breakout newcomer Everett Blunck) is getting ready to rehearse his next play, “Regrets Of Autumn,” a mature adult drama about a hard-drinking women trying to come to terms with her husband’s infidelity.

His mother, Helen (the always great Melanie Lynskey), isn’t too thrilled about it—and not just because the play is a thinly veiled fictionalization of her own life. She’s supportive of her son’s passions, but wants to see him out of the house, socializing with others his age.

But nothing can stop Griffin from perfecting “Regrets Of Autumn.” That is, until the handyman arrives.

Helen has hired the twenty-something Brad (IT‘s Owen Teague) to help out around the house. At first, Griffin finds him to be a total annoyance, especially with all the loud handiwork outside distracting him from his writing.

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However, when he discovers that Brad’s a performance artist just trying to make ends meet until he can move back to New York City, he begins to see the handyman in a whole new light. Suddenly, Griffin is catching feelings and finding ways to re-write Brad into his play.

Colia tells Screen Rant that Griffin In Summer was inspired by coming across his own home movies:

“I was finally old enough to be able to see the unintentional humor of kids in bad wigs with lines drawn on their faces drinking fake martinis and talking about their divorces,” he shares, confirming there’s an element of autobiography to the story: “That part of Griffin definitely is me.”

But even if you weren’t a Griffin yourself, surely you can relate to the experience of falling head over heels for someone older and cooler for the very first time. And, refreshingly, the film eschews the expected beats for this type of narrative—it’s not a coming-out story, but a coming-of-age that just so happens to be queer.

Also starring Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) and Abby Ryder Fortson (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret), the feature first premiered last year at the Tribeca Film Festival where it was met with great acclaim, currently standing at (95% “Fresh” on RottenTomatoes.

After making the rounds on the film fest circuit, Griffin In Summer is finally heading to select U.S. on August 29—just before summer begins to wind down—courtesy of Vertical Releasing. Check out the film’s fantastic first trailer below:

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