Finn Wolfhard will direct his first film, Hell of a Summer, in 2025. It was filmed in the summer of 2022 and premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023. This will be NEON’s latest horror film; a trailer has been released to tease viewers. It will be officially released to select theatres in the United States on April 18, 2025.
What A Hell of a Summer
Wolfhard and Billy Bryk co-wrote and co-directed this comedic horror film inspired by the Friday the 13th franchise. The movie stars Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Bryk, Wolfhard, Pardis Saremi, Rosebud Baker, and Adam Pally as camp counselors.
The film follows 24-year-old camp counselor Jason, played by Hechinger, who struggles to fit in with the other counselors at Camp Pineway. However, his teenage co-workers are no longer his biggest concern when they have to work together to fight off a masked killer who is lurking on the campgrounds. The killer picks them off one by one, slaughtering them.
Along with writing and directing the film, Wolfhard and Bryk star as counselors in Hell of a Summer. The trailer begins with ominous music as young adult Jason Hochberg is driven to camp by his mother, who grills him for being too old for camp. Then the other counselors arrive, and the tension between him and them rises when they begin partying the summer away.
You can already get a glimpse into the balance between horror and comedy portrayed in this film. Even after the gruesome murders start, jokes are still being cracked, and humor seeps through what is expected to be a traumatizing summer.
From Actor to Director
Wolfhard first gained traction in his star role as Mike Wheeler in the hit television series Stranger Things. Even though he received some discouragement when he introduced the filming of Hell of a Summer, he remains optimistic. He said, “I’m incredibly proud of it, but it was a crazy thing. We’ll let the film speak for itself. I don’t think age defines filmmaking in any way. Everyone has stories to tell, and if you can do it, then do it.”
Wolfhard does not believe age is important when writing and directing a film. He does not discredit the work that goes into it, but he said they had a lot of fun creating this masterpiece. There are mixed reviews on Hell of a Summer. Some say this is enough directing from Wolfhard and Bryk and that the humor is fruitless. Others found that it produces nostalgia and is promising for the future of these two directors.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Wolfhard explained, “Since I was maybe 10 or 11, I’ve been watching tons of movies. I’ve been watching behind-the-scenes movies. I would stay after work on set to watch all the directors and learn from them and how sets work.” He continued, “So I felt a little in my element at some points. At some points, I felt terrified, like I was flailing, but we had a great cast and crew. It was great. It was all the things, right? It was a small movie in the middle of nowhere in Canada, and it was incredible and hilarious. It was one of the best experiences of my life.”
Final Thoughts
Will Hell of a Summer be the next best horror comedy? Probably not. At the very least, it will get a laugh or two out of you and maybe a jump here and there. It will be interesting to see if there is a true balance or if the film is a basic horror parody of the Friday the 13th franchise. Like Wolfhard said, everyone has a story to tell, and they should be able to tell it. However, if that story is mediocre, it must not be a major motion picture.
