The tagline for Summoning Sylvia sets it up quite nicely, “she’s here, they’re queer, get used to it.” It let me know right away that I was in for a good time and the movie followed through on that promise. As it begins we find Larry (Travis Coles) has been abducted by his friends, Frankie Grande, Noah Ricketts, and Troy Iwata, on a trip upstate for a bachelor party. Of course, any good bachelor party will take place in a haunted house, and when you’re in a haunted house you have to perform a séance. You have to, it’s the rules.
The séance goes off without a hitch but they don’t know that yet when Larry’s fiancé (Michael Urie) brother shows up, played by Nicholas Logan. He is clearly ex-military and the straight man to the queer quartet. As strange things begin to happen around the house they all slowly discover that they aren’t alone and perhaps what was meant as a spooky night of fun is slowly turning into a serious situation. All of this leads to a fast-paced third act where the problems need to be resolved before the credits can roll. Complete with some touching but also hilarious moments, the film succeeds in wrapping it up with a bow.
What Summoning Sylvia got right
This movie couldn’t have been cast any better. The core group are instantly engaging and hilarious with some of the best dialogue I’ve seen in a while when it comes to scenes of people just sitting around and talking. The film was written and directed by both Alex Wyse and Wesley Taylor and they absolutely nailed the feel and flow. The duo easily captured the chemistry between all our main players and I totally believed they were lifelong friends. They all brought their A games.
Another thing Summoning Sylvia completely nailed was the humor. This is a horror/comedy after all and everyone leaned heavily into the humor. If they were selling this humor in a store I would buy it in bulk, I found myself laughing out loud more times than I care to admit. My kids probably thought there was something wrong with me. The way they were able to keep the jokes fresh and surprising was very much up my alley, I’m a sucker for a good joke and this film has them by the bushel.
This film, while funny, still had moments of tremendous heart as well. I really loved the scenes where characters were discovering things about themselves while everyone around them was being so supportive. I think the world could use more of that honestly, we all need those friends in our lives who buckle up and go on the journey with us. The movie was able to balance all of those feelings without them feeling preachy or forced, it was just a natural progression of what the characters were going through. It was great.
What Summoning Sylvia got wrong
Although the film only clocks in at 74 minutes there were still a couple of occasions that it seemed to slog by. This wasn’t an issue mostly but a couple of scenes did seem to drag on in the middle of the action the previous scene had just set up. They got us moving and then intentionally slowed us down. This sounds like more of a me problem as I type it out, I was ready to see what happened next but they weren’t ready to tip their hand yet. I’m not ready to call it a full-on pacing issue but definitely, some sections could have moved along.
There also is a mid-movie turn that isn’t my favorite, though it completely made sense for the character and the story and it ultimately upped the tension of everything else going on. Without ruining what it is (because you need to see for yourself) I just felt it was a bit of lazy writing. It was something everyone watching probably expected anyway, playing against that, in my opinion, could have been fun. They had an opportunity to be inventive. In the end, we do get what I was hoping for the entire time but that section just seemed too obvious.
I also feel like we needed more time with Sylvia (Veanne Cox), the movie has her name in it after all. The few flashbacks we did get were great and the final scene with her and her son (Camden Garcia) was touching. I don’t know how I would have implemented more scenes, this is just me spouting off after the fact. Maybe a bit of a longer prologue? That could have set things up with her nicely though it might have ruined the reveal (which I won’t do here). Maybe a prequel movie can happen in the future, maybe there is more.
Conclusion:
While Summoning Sylvia does drag on occasion the film still delivers a very fun and funny ride from beginning to end. It’s heavy on comedy and light on horror and that is perfectly okay. I would honestly love to see this core group of actors do other stories kind of in the way that Broken Lizard always writes new stories based around the same group every time. That could be a very fun thing to see. The chemistry between them all is just too good not to. Will I get my wish? Time will tell but I hope for all our sakes.
You need to give this movie a shot and as I always say about indie movies you need to tell as many people as will listen. The group here did a fantastic job telling a funny and fully fleshed-out LGBTQ horror/comedy tale that truly had me laughing in my seat. It made me want to hang out with these characters more, I want to be their friend. That’s how you know when a group of performances work when you aren’t ready to stop spending time with them. This movie had something to say and it said it loud and proud. It was funny and sweet and the ending was fantastic.
Summoning Sylvia is available for streaming on VOD on March 31st, 2023.
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