LAST SUMMER

Dan and Peter, two youths vacationing on Fire Island, befriend a young woman named Sandy, who has found an injured seagull on a beach. While nursing the seagull back to health, the three friends spend time experimenting with alcohol, marijuana, and their sexuality. Dan and Peter, both virgins, express interest in having sex with Sandy, who they suspect is also a virgin. The trio make the acquaintance of a slightly younger teenager, Rhoda, a shy girl who confides in the others that her mother died in a drowning accident. Rhoda becomes close with Peter and they share a kiss.

One day, the boys find that Sandy has killed the seagull after it bit her. The three older friends pull a prank by arranging a dinner date with an older man, Anibal, through a computer dating service. After getting him drunk, they abandon him to a group of local bullies despite Rhoda's protests. Tension builds between Rhoda and the three older teens, leading to an altercation in which Dan, Peter, and Sandy pin down Rhoda in the forest near the beach as Dan rapes her. After the attack, Sandy and Dan are seen walking away, as Peter, standing alone, stares into the ocean.

Dan, Peter, and Sandy violently assault Rhoda, culminating in Dan raping her while Sandy and Peter restrain her; afterward, Sandy and Dan leave together while Peter remains on the beach, staring into the ocean.

The film’s conclusion forces a confrontation with the destructive potential of group dynamics, especially when adolescent insecurity and cruelty converge. The act against Rhoda serves as a grim punctuation to the unraveling friendships, challenging viewers to reconsider the thin line between youthful exploration and moral collapse. Peter’s isolation at the end underlines a lingering guilt and signals a loss of innocence that cannot be reclaimed.