[Tribeca 2024] WINTER SPRING SUMMER OR FALL -- Jenna Ortega Teen Romance Is Charming but Generic

Review by Sean Boelman

Jenna Ortega is one of a new batch of movie stars who has reached superstardom so quickly that she still had indies in production that were yet to be released when she blew up. The teen romance Winter Spring Summer or Fall is one such film, shot before her star-making turn in Wednesday was unleashed onto the world. It’s a charming, quaint flick that doesn’t reinvent the wheel but has more than enough charm to win over viewers.

The movie follows two teenagers — one an overachiever and the other a charming but aimless loner — as they fall in love over the course of four seasons. These snapshots of their relationship follow the beats you’d expect from a story of young love, leaning heavily into the melodrama and cheese, but it’s ineffably enjoyable nevertheless.

In addition to hitting mostly familiar beats, Winter Spring Summer or Fall addresses the most common themes of the YA romance/coming-of-age genre. Topics like finding yourself and discovering love are timeless, and yet, this film somehow manages to feel overwhelmingly dated. Even more frustrating is that there is so much potential to explore more here, yet Dan Schoeffer’s script is content with the minimum. Themes like the protagonist’s Latino heritage and her parents’ expectations are only used to introduce secondary conflict into the story.  

However, where the movie falls short in offering something fresh to say, it makes up for it in esoteric and strangely relatable humor. Although the film is rarely laugh-out-loud funny, viewers may find themselves chucking throughout, reminiscing about the times when they would do stupid things for love, like making playlists (of Talking Heads music) or changing life plans to be with someone. 

Most people will understandably be drawn to this movie because of its star, Jenna Ortega. And while Ortega has shown her talent in the past, her performance in Winter Spring Summer or Fall does feel a tad phoned in. Although it’s not a bad performance by any means, her turn lacks vulnerability, making her feel like any other lead you have ever seen in a teen drama. Her chemistry with co-star Percy Hynes White is quite strong, though — one of the film’s saving graces.

The other saving grace of the movie is that it’s easy to fall in love with these characters’ romance. Although both characters are written to be very archetypal, they’re given personalities that feel real and lived-in. Although some of the decisions in the later acts feel rushed — an unfortunate byproduct of the episodic narrative structure — the meet cute in the first segment does a good enough job of investing us into the relationship that it’s easy to overlook these shortcomings.

There was clearly a great deal of attention put into everything from the production design to the soundtrack choices to make them feel like they accentuate the world of these characters, and Paulsen deserves a lot of credit for making that work. It has a lot of personality — something that can’t be said about more than a few entries into this genre.

Winter Spring Summer or Fall isn’t likely to become a classic in the canon of teen cinema, but it’s charming enough that it will find its admirers. Admittedly, the best parts of the film are those that will get lost on the younger audience that is likely to be most drawn to this, but it’s still a very charming movie nevertheless. 

Winter Spring Summer or Fall is screening at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, which runs June 5-16 in New York City.

Rating: 3.5/5