Stinky Summer is a feature length live action film that follows a young girl named Olivia, the middle child of a suburban family, who is going to Summer camp. She befriends a skunk that gets into her bag of things that she’s taking to camp, but the presence of this adorable little critter ends up bringing her closer to her bunkmates. Meanwhile, a pair of international spies are trying to steal from her family.
I found the puppet that was used for the skunk and the work put into bringing it to life incredibly charming. I also really liked the performances. The actress who played Olivia’s older sister, Francesca Capaldi, did a fantastic job at bringing a lot of believability to her character, and really shined in every scene she was a part of. I was delighted when I learned that I actually grew up watching something else she was in, which was Dog With A Blog. I also really liked the performances of the two spies, especially that of Helen Day as Lynn, the female spy, who brought an exaggerated charm to her character.
Also impressive is how memorable each character was, including a lot of small roles. I was also impressed with the work put into editing and lighting. There is a scene near the end of the film that takes place entirely at night in the woods, and it looked really, really good.
The script was charming, and there were some genuinely funny moments in there, as well as some great line deliveries from the actors that really brought it a lot of life. I really enjoyed the moments between Olivia and her older sister because they were very genuine and sweet. Stinky Summer is a cute and fun movie, a bit reminiscent of something I would have watched on Disney Channel when I was younger.
-Madelyn, Filmmaker Mixer Correspondent