Is the relationship between the 14-year-old and the 25-year-old creepy?

It's framed as a one-sided adolescent infatuation and creative muse situation rather than a predatory thriller. Critics consistently call the movie "touching and uncynical" and a "low-key charmer," focusing on Griffin's overly dramatic interior world and sexual awakening as he projects his feelings onto the handyman.

Will a 14-year-old actually want to watch this, or is it a movie for adults about a 14-year-old?

Both, depending on the kid. A 14-year-old who only watches blockbuster action is going to wonder why everyone is talking so much about a play. A 14-year-old who is in drama club, writes fanfiction, or likes quirky indie comedies will recognize Griffin immediately.

Where can we stream Griffin in Summer?

It's streaming on Hulu and on Kanopy. If you haven't set up Kanopy yet, it's completely free with most public library cards and has one of the best indie movie catalogs around, with zero ads.

Alongside the young lead playing Griffin, the adult cast features Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets, The Last of Us) as his mom and Owen Teague (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) as Brad the handyman.

Griffin in Summer – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Griffin in Summer

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2025

85%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A pretentious 14-year-old playwright channels his crush on his mom's 25-year-old handyman into a backyard theater production.

6.8/10

94%

86%

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Griffin in Summer

movie

NR, 2025

85%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A pretentious 14-year-old playwright channels his crush on his mom's 25-year-old handyman into a backyard theater production.

6.8

94%

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6.8/10

94%

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Screenwise Verdict

If you have a teenager who treats their creative projects like they're gunning for a Pulitzer, Griffin in Summer is going to hit close to home. Written and directed by Nicholas Colia, the movie follows Griffin, a 14-year-old queer playwright with massive ambition, whose summer — and latest script — gets completely derailed when his mom hires a 25-year-old handyman named Brad.

On paper, "14-year-old obsesses over 25-year-old" sounds like a premise that could go sideways fast, but critics across The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter call it a low-key, uncynical charmer. It's a funny, occasionally heartbreaking look at a kid dreaming too big and too soon while trying to make sense of his own sexual awakening and his parents' messy lives. Stream it on Hulu or Kanopy with an older teen, or put it on after they go to bed.

Age Fit

Best for ages 14 and up, plus adults who appreciate sharp indie coming-of-age comedies. Younger kids will be bored by the dialogue-heavy pacing, while high schoolers (especially theater kids) and parents will actually get the jokes.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Critics consistently describe Nicholas Colia's feature debut as touching, uncynical, and low-key. While it deals with family disruption and a 14-year-old's complicated crush on a 25-year-old handyman, the tone is empathetic rather than exploitative.

Imaginative

Centered on a fiercely ambitious 14-year-old playwright who channels his real-life feelings and family chaos directly into his theater production, offering a fun, specific portrait of artistic obsession.

Safe

Common Sense Media pegs this at 14+. It explores adolescent sexual awakening, family tension, and a teenager's infatuation with an adult (the 25-year-old handyman). It is a grounded indie dramedy for teens and adults, not something for young kids to stumble upon.

Enriching

With a 94% Rotten Tomatoes critic score and a 73 on Metacritic, it offers sharp performances (including Melanie Lynskey and Owen Teague), restrained direction, and a hilarious, heartbreaking look at queer youth and creative ambition.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Creative obsession on screen: Griffin takes himself way too seriously as the most ambitious playwright of his generation, which makes for great comedy if you know a theater kid who treats every minor life event like high drama.
Uncynical humor: Critics at Rotten Tomatoes (where it sits at 94%) praise writer-director Nicholas Colia for making a teen comedy that laughs at its protagonist's pretension without ever punching down at him.
Strong ensemble cast: Features reliable heavyweights like Melanie Lynskey and Owen Teague, grounded by restrained camera work that lets the acting carry the awkwardness.

⚠

What to Watch For

The age-gap crush: The central engine of the plot is a 14-year-old boy's infatuation with Brad, the handsome 25-year-old handyman his mom hires. Reviews frame it as a tender, awkward portrait of a teen's sexual awakening and misplaced daydreaming rather than a thriller, but the dynamic is the whole premise.
Family disruption: The backdrop to Griffin's playwriting obsession is friction at home, which drives him to pour his household frustrations into his script.

Conversation Starters

"Griffin puts his entire real life and family drama straight into his play — where's the line between making great art and just airing everyone's dirty laundry?"
"Why do you think Griffin gets so fixated on Brad specifically right when things with his family are messy?"
"Have you ever worked on a project where the vision in your head was way more serious than how everyone else took it?"

Deep Dive

The Rushmore of the backyard stage

There is a very specific subgenre of indie film about hyper-articulate, wildly pretentious teenagers who use art to control a world they have zero power over. Griffin in Summer sits comfortably in that lane. Griffin is fourteen, convinced he is a generational theatrical talent, and treating his summer writing like a Broadway workshop.

What keeps the movie from becoming insufferable is how director Nicholas Colia balances Griffin's massive ego with the reality that he is still just an awkward eighth-grader. When his mom (played by Melanie Lynskey, who never misses in this kind of grounded indie territory) hires a 25-year-old handyman (Owen Teague), Griffin immediately folds the guy into both his artistic vision and his romantic daydreams.

How it handles the awkward stuff

For parents scanning the synopsis, the age gap in Griffin's crush is the obvious question mark. The film approaches this from Griffin's perspective as a classic, painfully earnest adolescent fixation — the kind where a kid projects an entire sophisticated adult fantasy onto someone who is just there to fix the house. It's about the gap between how grown-up Griffin thinks he is (especially in his writing) and how young he remains.

If you're watching with a high schooler, especially one who lives in the drama department or writes their own stuff, it's a great shared watch. It validates the intensity of teen creative ambition while gently poking fun at how seriously they take themselves.