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Poster for Summer of Sam

Summer of Sam

1999 · 142 min

A sweaty, paranoid ensemble drama where personal guilt and neighborhood bigotry simmer under the shadow of a serial killer.

Directed by
Spike Lee
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Tagline
No one is safe from Son of Sam.
Overview
Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

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Directed by
Spike Lee
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 3 of 3
  • darkstrength 3 of 3
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • guilt
  • parenthood
  • identity
  • grief
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • ensemble
  • nonlinear
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language strong
  • Violence strong
  • Sex strong
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action4
Horror3
Humour4
Realism8
Romance3
Tension7
Darkness7
Complexity6
Emotional weight8

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Cast

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
crime, drama, thriller
Directed by
Spike Lee
Written by
Michael Imperioli, Spike Lee, Victor Colicchio
Starring
John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Rispoli, Saverio Guerra, Brian Tarantina, Al Palagonia
Music
Terence Blanchard
Cinematography
Ellen Kuras
Runtime
142 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
Italian, English

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