My Summer as a Goth

My Summer As a Goth tells a delightful coming-of-age story about the sometimes painful but often comic search for identity and love in adolescence. After the sudden death of her father, 16-year-old Joey (Natalie Shershow) is sent to stay with her eccentric grandparents while her author mother promotes her latest novel. Joey promptly falls for Victor (Jack Levis), the beguiling Goth boy next door, and is soon transformed, joining his merry band of misfits in black. Set in present-day Portland, “My Summer As a Goth” navigates Joey’s relationships with her new friends, her family, and her own conflicted feelings. The film is sure to resonate with anyone who survived teenage social alienation and that first summer heartbreak — and isn’t that all of us? (St. Louis International Film Festival)