‘Summer of 84’ Trailer: The Hardy Boys Meets ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Disturbia’

It’s a typical reaction for a curious teenage boy to round up his friends and investigate something that they deem mysterious or terrifying. That’s precisely the case for 15-year-old Davey Armstrong (played by The Good Doctor’s Graham Verchere) and his fellow young conspiracy theorists. Summer of 84 looks to be another contender for the nostalgic 80’s movie theme that’s slowly evolving to be a genre, as pointed out by the official trailer.

It starts out strong and ominous, with enough vibes to compare it to an 80’s version of The Hardy Boys with a touch of music inspired by Stranger Things (and, to put the movie in its proper roster, something that resembles François Simard and Anouk Whissell’s Turbo Kid).

Summer of 84 has all the elements of a typical mystery pre-teen movie, albeit a tinge of gore and violence to it. Davey and his friends put curious pieces of information together and form a conclusion that their neighbor, who happens to be a police officer, is the one who’s kidnapping and murdering young boys. This fact is made even more terrifying by the milk carton images, which was a huge thing back in the day. (Didn’t they make a movie like this starring Taylor Lautner back in 2011?)

Looking at the trailer as a whole, Summer of 84 belongs to the nostalgic bunch that’s only ever made to serve memory lane-seeking fans of the era, but it has interesting points as well. It might be a sleeper hit, much like Stranger Things was, as it does offer something worth watching out for. It stars a bunch of unknown kids (apart from Verchere), but that doesn’t stop us from giving in to curiosity. Check out the synopsis below:

Summer, 1984: The perfect time to be 15 years old and free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous. 

Summer of 84 hits select theaters August 10th.