Winter Spring Summer or Fall (dir. Tiffany Paulsen)

By: Adam Freed

There is a narrow window of time in which high school seniors stand with their feet in two different, yet simultaneously evolving worlds.  On one hand they experience the culmination of the only reality in which they have ever lived, one spent under someone else’s roof governed by a set of rules in which they had no say.  At the same time an eighteen-year-old embarks boldly into a fresh new world, one far less preordained and overflowing with the endless promise of life's choices.  Director Tiffany Paulsen daringly embraces this finite moment in time with her warm and inviting teen romance Winter Spring Summer or Fall.   By leaning into the short breath of time in which all of life's machinations drip with youthful possibility and by featuring one of Gen Z’s most recognizable, and successful names in Jenna Ortega, Paulsen’s love story is far more than meets the eye.  Delicately capturing the nuanced intricacies of the latest generation of would-be adults, Paulsen legitimizes and respectfully portrays the desires and ambitions of a generation often unfairly mislabeled as egocentric. 

Told over the period of one calendar year, the story told in four evolutionary quadrants begins with Remi (Ortega), the honors society and Ivy League bound student crossing paths with Barnes (Percy Hynes White), a peer in age only, as he lacks the ambitious drive that has characterized the first seventeen years of Remi’s life.  Wisely, Tiffany Paulsen circumvents the traditional “meet cute” formula in favor of letting the teen relationship develop over a period of months, highlighting the love story’s evolution over the course of a year rather than artificially throwing two “opposites attract” characters together.  Within the folds of the time spent with and without one another, Remi and Barnes’ relationship becomes tactile and something that feels worthy of investment.  When compared to his Wednesday (Netflix) co-star Ortega, White feels like a fresh face, and one that is capable of the perilous juggling act of providing a teen character with warmth and likability without offering a static performance.  Although some of its well earned momentum dissipates gradually in the film’s final act, Winter Spring Summer or Fall is a meaningful addition to the ever evolving teen film genre.

Target Score 7/10  Finding a teen romance that feels fresh and respectful to its subjects rather than rote and condescending.  Winter Spring Summer or Fall is an insightful reflection to Gen Z romance and to the short window of time in which high school seniors look into an unknown future.

Winter Spring Summer or Fall was screened in conjunction with Movie Archer’s coverage of the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival.