I’m currently on an Amtrak headed back to Stinktown, USA (New York City, a wonderful place) after a weekend visiting my parents and meeting their new puppy (!!!) in rural Rhode Island. It was a wonderful weekend, full of good company and (perhaps too much) good food, and the sweetest little angel the Lord ever made, who is named Raffi and is about three months old and is a very good boy even if he likes to nip at your toes a little too much. 

But something about lovely summer weekends—even when it is not technically summer—always fills me with a specific kind of ache. It’s impossible to not think of all the summers past, to wonder how the years have tumbled along as swiftly as they have, to mourn lost youth and possibility just a little bit. (A puppy—a brand new being!—helps soften all that, at least.) I know I am by no means alone in that feeling; Lana Del Rey wrote a song about it, many authors of novels and memoirs have covered the topic, and of course plenty of filmmakers have taken a crack at capturing the wistful languor of summer, so fleeting and precious and, on occasion, magical. 

To that end, I have compiled the following list of summer-set movies that, to me, capture that emotion quite beautifully. This is by no means a complete list, but perhaps serves as a jumping off point. Obvious picks like Call Me By Your Name and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants have been omitted, because we all know those are great. If you have your own suggestions, please never hesitate to reach out: [email protected].