The Kings of Summer (2013)

I watched this movie without the benefit of knowing that it premiered to rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.  It is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends - Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso) and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio (Moises Arias) - who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.  Joe has an easily understood reason for wanting to get out if his house--his father has been miserable since the death of his wife (Joe's mother), and he is hellbent on making everyone around him, and especially Joe, as miserable as he is.  Patrick and Biaggio have minor annoyances at home (parents who care and tend to hover a bit), but Joe is the motivator and the planner in this grand plan.

They cobble together a shelter and an outdoor living space and disappear.  The police are involved, but there is not what I would call an all out search for the boys.  They are not all that adept at living off the land--they stop at Boston Market for a chicken dinner each day indtead, and no one talks about how you could possible hunt or trap mashed potatoes.  The balance that they reach is upset when Joe invites Kelly (Erin Moriarty) to their lair--and she falls for Patrick--which crushes Joe.  He very much liked her and had his heart set on her.  Very quickly the equilibrium they had established is dramatically disrupted and the whole thing unwinds in wild and sometimes unpredictable ways.  Very nicely done movie.