The Kings of Summer

Channelling the spirit of JM Barrie’s Lost Boys, the three Ohio teens at the heart of this debut US feature have scant use for adults. Striking out on their own, they build a house in the woods near their homes and forage for food like urban foxes, making use of nature’s bounty and the bins at KFC. Coming on like ‘Stand by Me’ meets ‘Son of Rambow’, the boys’ adventure is essentially dreamy indie-teen wish-fulfilment. Only a grumpy dad, played as comic relief by Nick Offerman (‘Parks and Recreation’) offers much threat to their idyll, until there’s a final-reel confrontation with nature itself. You’ll have to ignore the implausibility of the house that the boys – sensitive leader Joe (Nick Robinson), his stolid buddy Patrick (Gabriel Basso) and weirdo Biaggio (Moises Arias) – knock up. But this is still a gorgeous, amusing ode to the pleasures of stretching your wings a little.