Sundance 2026 Review: Chasing Summer

The unlikely, but inspired pairing of boundary pushing director Josephine Decker (Madeline’s Madeline, The Sky is Everywhere) and stand-up-comic writer/star Iliza Shlesinger turn in one of the finest and funniest romantic comedies in recent memory with the layered and likeable Chasing Summer.

Shlesinger stars as Jamie, a highly motivated crisis aid worker whose life is turned upside down when her boyfriend suddenly ditches her for a younger woman. With nowhere else to go for the next few months before heading off to a dream posting in Jakarta, Jamie reluctantly moves back to suburban Texas to crash with her mother and father (the drolly hilarious Megan Mullally and Jeff Perry). Jamie reluctantly takes a job doing maintenance at the crumbling local roller rink, now owned by her bossy, reformed delinquent older sister, Marissa (Cassidy Freeman). Through this thankless job, Jamie strikes up a friendship with a younger co-worker (Lola Tung, Decker and Shlesinger’s secret weapon), and starts hanging out with a more youthful crowd. At a house party, Jamie starts flirting and hooking up with the much younger Colby (Garrett Wareling), a naive sweetheart who’s more soulful than his age suggests. But returning to Texas for the first time in two decades also puts Jamie back into the orbit of Chase (Tom Welling), a now happily married ex-boyfriend that she still has some complicated feelings towards.

Chasing Summer plays like a middle aged adult raised on late 90s teen movies suddenly getting plunked down into one in the modern era. Decker and Shlesinger aren’t afraid of the occasional gross out gag or sex joke (nor are they afraid of actual sex, which is steamy and quite lovingly presented by mainstream comedy standards). With a stacked soundtrack of late 90s needle drops and a small town setting that feels forever preserved in amber, Decker offers up her most straightforward and mainstream effort to date, but not without sacrificing visual flair, her strong sense of design, and a healthy amount of strangeness around the margins. The film is a strong reflection of its flawed, but relatable protagonist. At first, Jamie is skeptical that being back home could bring her any joy, but before long, she’s actually having a much better time than expected.

For Shlesinger, Chasing Summer should successfully push her through the stand-up to movie star pipeline with ease. Her wit and timing – not just via Shlesinger’s performance, but also her script – is sharp, reflective, and poignant, not just a bunch of tossed off one-liners searching for a better story. It’s a great case of a writer-performer crafting the best possible vehicle for their talents, even if it does conform to a lot of genre standards. But that’s where Decker’s acumen as a filmmaker comes in to make things all the more interesting.

Chasing Summer screened as part of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.