On the sisterhood in the film and whether or not it drew Emma Pasarow to the movie, the actress said, “Absolutely. Auden’s relationship [with] all of the women she meets in Colby, as well as her relationship [with] her mother, are really formative in her going from adolescence to adulthood, the summer between high school and college.”
While it’s common for teenagers to put themselves into boxes, exploring who they are and not limiting themselves is critical. “She learns that we’re all more than one thing, especially as women. She comes into Colby feeling like things are very binary,” Pasarow added. “You’re either a Victoria or you’re a Heidi, but then when she comes, she meets these women who are incredibly smart, social, emotionally intuitive, are not afraid to make mistakes, and it’s upon meeting them that she’s able to grow as well.”
In addition to the strong bonds between the women in the film, Auden and Eli work on themselves and their own mental health before jumping into a relationship — another message often absent from teen films. “What’s so special is that these are two people who clumsily figure out how to think through their past, create new relationships, and they’re not always right,” Pasarow explained. “It doesn’t always come out right verbally, but through each other and making mistakes and checking each other when communications fail, they’re able to figure out how to healthily work through life.”
