Ordinary people in New York are asked to talk about their lives and their hopes for the future in a time marked by political division and climate change.... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Sorry, we can't find any suggestions at the moment.
Ordinary people in New York are asked to talk about their lives and their hopes for the future in a time marked by political division and climate change.
Leave your thoughts about The Hottest August.
| VarietyPeter DebrugeStory’s an original, and the film is a revelation — a movie that’s as deep as we’re willing to read into it, and an invaluable time capsule for summers far in our future, assuming we ever get there. |
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyThis collection of interactions with ordinary people is a cinematic gift both simple and multilayered, an intellectual challenge and an emotional adventure. |
| Slant MagazineChristopher GrayThe documentary represents a city ground down by inequality and division, where millions of selves who have by and large given up on one another. |
| The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyWhile it never feels completely defeatist, her film offers scattered snapshots of an uncertain society in its dog days. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleSometimes an experiment feels like just an experiment, and that’s where the well-intentioned query The Hottest August ultimately lands. |
| User ReviewBrent_MarchantWhile the tone is decidedly experimental and the narrative definitely defies categorization, this unconventional documentary attempts to provide an integrated look at our existence, one that seeks to reconcile our present with what could be our future at a time that's a crucial crossroad of change on many fronts -- socially, politically, economically and environmentally, to name a few -- and the impact of that amalgamation of influences on everyday individuals, both personally and collectively. By combining impromptu, unscripted interviews with everyday Gothamites and footage of ordinary daily events and happenings of global significance (most notably the August 2017 solar eclipse), director Brett Story attempts to assemble a holistic package that illustrates the interconnectedness of all these elements and how to deal with them, both now and down the road. While the film is not entirely successful at its task (it's sometimes a bit too random and meandering in its approach), the filmmaker's obviously sincere attempt to show how the coalescence of these many factors influence us as individuals and as a species is nevertheless commendable, achieving something that other directors have sought to attain but not nearly as effectively or poetically as is the case here. "The Hottest August" is indeed an important film, one to be admired on multiple levels and one that's capable of both inspiring and terrifying us at the same time. If ever there were a film that shows how we're "living in interesting times," this would be it. |
| User Revieweli_fjrOk enough. Worth a watch if you chillin' on a Sunday night. Prolly best to watch with close friends. |
