Summertree

The events take place in 1970, during the height of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. The draft and deferral system create intense pressure on young men and families alike. The era is marked by social upheaval, generational conflict, and questions of duty versus personal freedom.

Set in the United States in the early 1970s, the film tracks a 20-year-old college student’s struggle with the Vietnam-era draft and family expectations. Much of the drama unfolds in a suburban home, a hospital, a local coffeehouse, and a gas station, reflecting everyday American life at the time. The narrative also crosses into Canada as a dream of dodging the draft.

🪖 Duty vs Freedom

The film centers on the pressure between personal freedom and societal duty. Jerry’s desire to chart his own path clashes with family expectations and the looming draft. Choices about safety, responsibility, and endurance push characters toward painful, irreversible decisions. The story uses the draft as a catalyst to explore how people negotiate obligation in a divisive era.

❤️ Love and Loyalties

Romantic and familial loyalties are tested as Jerry falls for Vanetta while her past with Tony complicates their relationship. The love triangle puts every character in a precarious balance between passion, fidelity, and consequence. This theme underscores how relationships are shaped by external pressures like war and social norms. Loyalties are ultimately strained to their breaking points.

🧭 Identity and Growth

Jerry’s journey is a coming-of-age trial in a turbulent time. He experiments with self-definition—musician, student, potential defector—without a clear, supported path. The film traces how the quest for identity collides with external forces like the draft, family expectations, and the realities of adulthood. The result is a poignant meditation on finding one’s place when options feel limited.