Directed by Josephine Decker, starring comedian Iliza Shlesinger, Garrett Wareing, Lola Tung, Cassidy Freeman, Tom Welling, Kristin Slaysman, Aimee Garcia, Lauren Aboulafia, and Megan Mullally. Schlesinger also wrote the screenplay and produced the romantic comedy-drama.
Chasing Summer is a fun, sexy, and introspective romp that centers on Jamie (Iliza Schlesinger), a disaster-relief worker who finds herself in a disaster of her own when her boyfriend unexpectedly dumps her. She loses her job right as she is on the verge of accepting a career-changing offer. She then retreats to her small Texas hometown, where she experiences a surreal homecoming, encountering high school friends and flings that turn her summer into a steamy yet sorrowful one.
At the premiere, many laughs, hugs, and memories were shared of the memorable time filming the production in St. Louis, Missouri, which served as Texas in the film. Behind the scenes, many of the cast and crew are either native Texans or were raised in the state, Decker and Schlesinger being the latter. Bringing an authentic flair to the set. Schlesinger grew up in Dallas and was inspired by her life. Chasing Summer is described as a millennial coming-of-age story.
Director Josephine Decker remarked at the premiere how grateful she was to bring this film to the last installment of Sundance in Utah. An alum of the festival, she debuted her fifth feature, Madeline’s Madeline, in 2018 and Shirley in 2020, both films recieved critical acclaim.
“We’re so lucky to be in this room right now, and just thank you for seeing this film. But I just feel like blessed that we get to make art in a moment when it’s hard to make art. So, we get to share this community, this very special Sundance, this final Park City Sundance with all of you.”
Kristin Slaysman plays Morgan, a high school friend of Jamie who reconnects with her. Slaysman spoke about how excited she was to be cast in the film as an old friend of Decker, speaking on her talents as a director.
“I’m an old friend of Josephine’s, and she’s got such a special hand with female stories, and I’m delighted to see the collaboration between her and Eliza and what that like comedy, and Josephine’s texture is going to bring.”
Lead actor Garrett Wareing was initially unfamiliar with Schlesinger and Decker, but quickly became a fan of the two and deemed the experience one of the greatest honors of his career. The film is about reinvention and second chances, which attracted him to the project.
“I think reinvention is right. It’s never too late to change your narrative, I think. And maybe the lies that we’ve believed about ourselves from our youth may not be true, and that maybe people can inherently be good.”
Wareing further explained, “I think that we’re always in a period of change, at least I am in my life, and thinking about who I was versus the man I am becoming, and I think Colby’s also caught in the crossroads of who he was as a younger man and who he wants to become. And I think Eliza has captured that spirit so well in Chasing Summer, and I relate to that as someone who’s always feeling like I’m growing and changing and always having to reinvent, you know?”
Wareing shared that while he resides in LA, the Texas spirit still grounds him. Wareing said, “I think Colby wants the bigger life outside of his small town in Texas. I’ve been in LA for like 13 years now, but I’ll always have my boots on.”
During the film’s introduction, Schlesinger spoke about how the film is a love letter to Texas. “This movie takes place in Texas. You’re allowed to love a place you’re from, even if it is fraught. So, this shows the best pieces of that. We wanted to represent people without making caricatures out of them,” said Schlesinger.
The film has a lot of heart and is reflective of Schlesinger’s own life. Arriving at a crossroads in her life, where she was becoming both a new wife and mother.
“And I wanted, as I was getting older and becoming a mom and becoming a wife, I just wanted to be able to have that one last summer. And you’re going to understand the vibes of that, so that I could always return to it in the way that we return to movies that make us feel good. So, I hope everyone feels good, and they laugh, and they laugh. that you’re like a little turned on.”
Slaysman hopes that the film can resonate with people and have them look back fondly on a time period that some might want to ignore.
“I hope that people have a good time, and I hope they have some perspective on their past selves. I think that’s what the coming-of-age story kind of throws a lifeline down to you and says, ‘You know what, this time period is not as bad as you thought it was.’ ”
The film has a fun, careless, and reckless spirit that is honest in its display in the beauty of the unexpected. A reminder that what you wanted is not what you needed, and sometimes there is joy in finding comfort in the chaos of life. This aura extended off-screen as well. Wareing and Aboulafia shared memorable moments during the production.
“Yeah, there’s a lot. There’s, yeah… The roller skating stuff. Iliza and I at that pool party. It was my birthday filming, like we wrapped on my birthday. It was sunrise, and it was just like… This cast was like my family. And I just, I really enjoyed spending our time together in Missouri this summer,” Wareing said.
Aboulafia hilariously recounted how an unbelievably hot day of filming was a communal experience for the cast and crew. She shared, “I think the 14-hour day in the heat, where I did think I might pass out and didn’t. And I think the heat bonded our cast because we were so hot, and I was so concerned I might die.”
“But no, in not a bad way. Just like that bonding moment of like, ‘I’m gonna, me too. And then it’s like, ha, ha, ha.’ You see what I’m saying? Like that’s a very bond. But then we got through it, and it was amazing. So, I think that was the most memorable. Like we’re all hot together. We’re all doing this together. We’re all making this amazing movie together.”
Schlesinger and Decker discussed at the premiere that, while opposites, their unique vision created a final product that felt proud to share.
Decker states, “I really wanted to tell this story, and I feel like we got to… Really honestly… I think, I don’t know, I’ll speak for myself. Like conquer a lot of my own demons, reframe how I think about myself, learn, and come together with someone that I appreciate, admire, have learned so much from. I’m so happy that I got to do this with you.”
The film is still currently seeking distribution. Due to its warm reception at Sundance, it was selected as a festival favorite for the 2026 South by Southwest Film Festival for audiences in Austin, TX, to screen.
Watch our entire interviews and coverage of the premiere in the video above.
