For most thirteen-year-old girls, the biggest worry is about making friends at school. Or, trying to keep up with the latest trends. In filmmaker Kenneth R. Frank‘s How I Spent My Summer Vacation, the young protagonist has bigger issues on her mind. This tenderly told coming-of-age film spends the summer with Grace, a teenager who struggles with the anxiety of her own mortality.

You Only Live Once

Grace (Raquel Sciacca) is a young girl who loves routine. Having control over an outcome is a way to ease her fragile mind, which is why structure has become increasingly more important, as life’s disruptions become more frequent. Grace is also entering the eighth grade next year, which is already proving to be problematic. Her younger brother Richie’s (Dawson Sciacca) disruptive behavior in class makes things difficult for Grace and her mother (Christina Elise Perry) to handle. Needless to say, everyone is looking forward to a break during summer vacation. Grace can only keep her sights set on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Galapagos Islands with her dad (Chris Mollica), which she has been planning for years. Still, an ever-present sense of fear creeps into this otherwise exciting upcoming trip.

Plans are disrupted, however, once news of her grandfather’s (Jerry Colpitts) illness spreads. Grace and her family move to Long Island for the summer to care for him. Straying from her original expectation and into the unknown is a scary thing for Grace to accept, but it’s exactly the thing that pushes her to explore a whole new world of possibilities. Through unexpected challenges and newly formed relationships, Grace finally confronts her anxieties and fears. She soon realizes that life is too short to worry about strict routines and playing it safe. After all, you only live once, so instead of fearing death, Grace learns to embrace life.

A Traditional Coming of Age Film with Heart

How I Spent My Summer Vacation is writer/director Kenneth R. Frank’s third feature film. He tackles the themes of adolescent curiosity and fears in such a precious and nuanced way. The script tackles traditional coming-of-age themes, led by an empathetic performance by Raquel Sciacca. Her sensitivities are palpable, similar to Elsie Fisher’s performance in Bo Burnham’s 2018 film Eighth Grade. For an independent feature, How I Spent My Summer Vacation is a solid execution. What could have enhanced the film’s onscreen charisma is a smoother dialogue flow between characters, whose interactions, at times, can come across as slightly robotic and unnatural. The film could have also benefited from a more consistent score, instead of mainly relying on it as a transition device between scenes.

Director’s Statement

“The story for this film is rooted in a personal experience I have long wanted to examine: the death of my grandfather when I was eleven years old. While this period was my first intimate contact with death, it also seems, in retrospect, to be my entry into the world of adults. In this regard, there are then two periods of my life: everything before my grandfather’s death and then everything after it… And so, sitting behind the camera on this film, I found myself directing two of my own experiences: that of my own younger self and that of my current reality as a father… This examination of my own past (and my own present) has been a most satisfying artistic experience, and I am proud to share this film.”

Takeaway

The biggest lesson in the film is a universal one, a powerful sentiment that bears repeating. As Grace’s father says, “It’s okay to be scared, but you can’t let fear keep you from doing the things you want.” This film offers audiences a reminder that the purpose of life isn’t to live small; rather, it’s to live out loud.