Visualize Analog Freedom and Recklessness with The Best Summer
Film
Sundance Film Review: The Best Summer
Director: Tamra Davis
Self-Released
Premiere: 01.24.2026
I bought my first video camcorder when I was 12 years old, with a check I received after working as a Supporting Extra on Unicorn City. The camera was mainly used for holidays and viral video drafts that never saw the light of day. By the time I was 16, however, that camera and many others damaged from a good time became a second appendage during summer nights — an all-seeing third eye capturing glimmers of debauchery around my group of friends. Bombing massive inclines on skateboards, midnight hunting for Slenderman, dumping rotten milk down the air conditioning vents of an elementary school (the statutes of limitations should be lifted by now). They’re all digitalized flashbacks now, stained with that ruby record icon. It was seeing The Best Summer at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival that made me wind back those memories like pressing the playback button.
The year is 2025, and Pasadena, California is ablaze by steamrolling wildfires. Evacuation orders are in place, and Billy Madison director Tamra Davis is in a mad dash scrambling to grab her personal keepsakes. In the retreat, Davis grabs a box of videotapes containing hours of footage dating back to 1995, capturing the memories of a world tour unlike anything you’ll see again. At the amateur Australian music festival Summersault, Davis immersed herself onstage and backstage with bands like Beastie Boys, Beck, Rancid, Bikini Kill and Foo Fighters. Through interviews and antics, Davis unknowingly hooked in a slice of the ‘90s in all its grainy VHS glory!
It’s unlikely that a film primarily made using archival footage and no testimonials would actually be successful. However, this isn’t your grandparents’ documentary. Where most docs can convey a fantastic remembrance of the situation, either good or bad, Davis’ take delivers POV rawness. Without the rose-tinted goggles, The Best Summer shows the mundane hotel trips, the mischief of the rockstar lifestyle and even the clutter shock of traveling to a new country. For a little bit of clarity, Davis was married to Michael Louis Diamond, AKA Mike D of Beastie Boys, at the time of this recording. One major part of the film isn’t even shown, as the tour continues into Vietnam — and unfortunately for the B-boys from Brooklyn, they were banned from the entire country. This mishap was resolved with a cheeky chapter card and footage of the boys resting poolside before their next destination.
Now, can I really critique a film that is off-the-cuff and completely DIY? I could say the initial goal of candid, one-on-one interviews with each band, conducted by Davis and Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna, was completely abandoned by the second act. However, that would be me nitpicking. The 90-minute film is a fun-loving video diary, where anything can (and will) happen when touring with some of the biggest names in music. MTV would kill for such footage, but luckily, it was all captured through the good deed of just being a fan!
The Best Summer is a freeform testament to amateur storytelling — the angsty ambition to simply “shut up and keep recording.” When we were given a camera of any sort in our youth (minus the access to the internet), it was sheer ignorance that created the memories. So the next time your friend calls you for a late-night adventure or you’re grabbing a few brews at the local dive, bring a camcorder with you! Who knows? Maybe it’ll win an award at next year’s film festival. —Alton Barnhart
Read more of SLUG’s coverage of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
