SUMMER OF 69 - Mark Reviews Movies

Summer of 69, Hulu

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 8, 2025

To clear up the title a bit, it's not the year 1969 in Summer of 69. No, Abby (Sam Morelos) has something else that number represents in mind, but the only problem is that she's a socially, as well as generally, awkward teenager who has had a crush on the same guy since grade school. She hears he's also a fan of what that particular number represents and decides that might be the way to win his heart.

That technically makes co-writer/director Jillian Bell's debut feature a sex comedy of what is now a somewhat old-fashioned variety. It's pretty tame by older standards and doesn't seem too interested in or curious about actual sex—or, in this case, a very specific form of sexual activity—beyond its existence as a faraway and mysterious concept. That perspective definitely fits the mindset of the story's protagonist, who knows a thing or two about sex and, after speaking to an exotic dancer with some first-hand experience on the subject, we realize she might literally only know a thing or two about it.

The innocence and naïveté of both the material and the character become pretty charming here, mainly because Morelos is so endearing in her uncomfortable determination to learn, not so much about the ins and outs of sex, but how Abby can present herself as if she knows what she's doing. The dancer, played by Chloe Fineman, seems to give up on teaching Abby about specific details and processes early into her lessons for the teen, partly because she assumes that stuff will happen naturally but mostly because Abby probably seems like a hopeless case.

By the way, that is the basic gimmick here: Abby hires Fineman's "Santa" Monica to teach her about sex. After learning that her long-time crush Max (Matt Cornett) has broken up with his equally long-time girlfriend, Abby becomes resolute that, with graduation happening in about a week, she has one last chance to fulfill her persistent fantasy of being with Max. His apparent obsession with the eponymous number comes from the student dressed as the mascot of the Catholic school Abby and Max attend. That guy sees and hears everything, after all, and nobody notices with the furry costume and oversized dog head getting in the way.

The screenplay, written by the director with Liz Nyco and Jules Byrne, is genuinely amusing in its little details like that one, as well as the way that the guy in the mascot costume, who used to provide top-secret information in exchange for candy, is now trying to quit sugar and prefers more practical payment. The movie creates its own world of those sorts of details, so it's kind of disappointing that the story at its core becomes so formulaic, predictable, and too dependent on doing the obvious to make good use of its characters, scenario, and eccentricities.

What this means, of course, is that Abby hires Monica, accepting the dancer's offer for sex education in exchange for $20,000. That seems steep for both only several hours of advice and a high-schooler to pay (Abby has been saving up for a car and plays video games online to a financially generous audience), but it is a reasonable amount for the other plot thread here—the reason Monica does agree to such a strange request. The strip club where she works is in debt that exact amount, and Monica negotiates with the owner (played by Paula Pell) that she'll own the club if she's able to get the money to pay off the debt.

It's a shame about all that (not to mention whatever the usually funny Charlie Day is doing with his character, the guy who could take over the club), because it's one of those obvious complications that will inevitably get in the way of whatever character and relationship work the screenplay develops. The dynamic between the embarrassed Abby and the outwardly confident but secretly unsure-of-herself Monica is genuinely amusing and becomes surprisingly sweet, too.

Monica initially wants to keep everything professional—as professional as this kind of relationship can be, at least—but, after realizing how much more there is to her pupil than her exterior timidity and nerdiness, comes to perceive Abby with some sympathy. For her part, Abby doesn't judge Monica and, in fact, encourages her to be more confident about the person she is, since she's actively avoiding an upcoming high-school reunion. Monica doesn't want to be seen as just a stripper, compared to whatever good life another former classmate named Robin (Natalie Morales) must have now. There's a nice scene between those two women that's more honest than we might anticipate from the setup of an apparent rivalry—even if it is only one-sided.

There is some other real honesty to Summer of 69, too, especially when Monica confronts her student about what she actually wants from Max and Abby has to face that her desire for a sexual connection might be covering up a deeper feeling of needing any kind of personal connection. In between some decent jokes (a sex shop visit that transforms into a nightmare sequence of Abby, since she does attend a Catholic school, confronting all of her guilt and shame about sex), there's a fine story here, but the unfortunate rise in the story's formulaic tendencies overshadow its potential, its characters, and its humor.

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