Cruel Summer (2016)

You’d assume summer is just for fun yet the sunny season is often described as anything but nice in song. Take Taylor Swift’s single “Cruel Summer” (2019) or the same-named hit by Bananarama from 1998. In between, audiences screamed while watching the horror flick Cruel Summer (2016), not to be confused with Kanye West’s short film Cruel Summer (2012) or the television series Cruel Summer (2021-2023). Seriously, why is summer so mean? Under the pens and direction of Phillip Escott and Craig Newman, this eerie feature is inspired by a true crime story in the United Kingdom. As such, the British pic follows a young man named Danny (Richard Pawulski) who lives with autism. The bloke sets off to enjoy the peace that comes with camping in the woods. But his serene holiday is interrupted by the vindictive Calvin (Reece Douglas) and his cohorts Julia (Natalie Martins) and Nicholas (Danny Miller). These terrible teens are up to no good and want to inflict pain on defenseless Danny. Will they succeed in hurting him or will they turn on each other? Speaking of turn-ons, fast-forward to the film’s 52-minute mark to see Mr. Pawulski taking off his clothes. If you can get past the bullying context, you’ll appreciate seeing our leading man’s alabaster body. In addition to viewing his bare back and naked chest, we get a hot shot of his butt when he puts on his underwear in a tent. In fact, Mr. Man is pitching a tent just thinking of him!