Watch the trailer for James Ponsoldt’s sixth feature film, the girlhood coming-of-age tale Summering. Co-written by Ponsoldt and Benjamin Percy, the film centers on four 11-year-old best friends during the last golden days of summer vacation.

Summering immediately evokes the dramatic exploits of Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me and the girlish whimsy of Lesli Linka Glatter’s Now and Then. The trailer reveals a dead body in the woods, the friends’ dogged quest to figure out John Doe’s identity and the stress of navigating newfound adolescence. 

Summering premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film’s cast includes Lia Barnett, Lake Bell, Sarah Cooper, Ashley Madekwe, Madalen Mills, Megan Mullally, Eden Grace Redfield and Sanai Victoria.

Filmmaker previously spoke with Ponsoldt for his 2015 David Foster Wallace biopic The End of the Tour (both during its Sundance premiere and theatrical release) and his 2013 coming-of-age romance The Spectacular Now (for the Summer 2013 print issue and Filmmaker’s “The Shooting Schedule” column). 

Ponsoldt has also contributed to Filmmaker in the past, conducting director interviews for Chloé Zhao’s The Rider, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff and more. 

Summering will hit theaters via Bleecker Street on August 12.