We once lived in a society in which Tamra Davis movies graced the silver screen with some regularity, and we fumbled it. With comedy favorites like Billy Madison, CB4, and Half Baked under her belt, it feels like an injustice that she was seemingly exiled to the world of television after the maligned Britney Spears vehicle, Crossroads. Of course, it would take a literal act of god to get her to return to the Sundance Film Festival after the premiere of her acclaimed 2010 documentary Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. While evacuating from the Palisades fires in January 2025, Davis came across a box of videotapes she shot in 1995 at a little-known Australian indie music festival, Summersault, while accompanying then-husband Mike D of The Beastie Boys. With the footage newly restored and edited together for the ultimate hangout movie, Davis has delivered an embarrassment of riches for music fans in her new documentary, The Best Summer.
In the midst of Australia’s summer, the tour begins as the new year approaches in Melbourne and hops around to Sydney, Gold Coast, Perth, and beyond, as noted by title cards that guide us through the experience. Rather than delivering a strict concert film, Davis allows the audience to feel like they are actually on tour with these bands, some already global stars and others still trying to break out of obscurity. The MVP of making this experience as compelling as it is comes in the form of Kathleen Hanna from Bikini Kill. Hanna is the perfect intermediate between Davis’s camera and her fellow musicians, typically asking them a series of warm-up questions like their favorite food before diving deeper into their feelings about and approach to being a musician and public figure.
An early highlight of this approach comes from a post-show session with a fresh-faced Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. It is fascinating to take what we know of Grohl’s ebullient public persona from the modern day and rewind 25 years to a young musician trying to find his place as the public face of a band after being behind the drums of Nirvana in the years prior. Grohl noting his discomfort with on-stage banter is especially amusing considering his reputation for humorous riffs these days. It is also compelling to compare his responses to Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, a musician with more experience under her belt both on stage and in life. The conflicting ideas of wanting to be vulnerable as a musician yet not wanting to reveal too much of yourself is one that is summed up most eloquently by her, yet expressed in similar ways by others on the tour.
There are also plenty of less formal moments captured throughout the tour, like Adam Yauch goofing off backstage and butchering his own personal motto (that he seems to be conjuring on the spot). Do you want to know what Thurston Moore and Stephen Malkmus were reading at this time? You are in luck! And, obviously, we want to know that Beck’s New Year’s resolution was to wear more shorts. When Jawbreaker joins the tour halfway through the run, you get to hear the artists comparing notes, as if there is a new kid in school who you have heard vague whispers about. Even if you are not a fan of these bands, the film is very accessible as a look into a community of artists and the individual, colorful personalities within it. If you are a fan, you will be in heaven.
While the most unique insights come from the moments off stage, Davis does not leave you hanging with the action on stage. Throughout the journey, virtually every band on the tour gets at least one moment in the spotlight. Davis lets these moments play out nearly always in their entirety, allowing fans of the artists to witness extremely rare live performances for the first time. From the early anthem of “Rebel Girl” from Bikini Kill to the ferocious “Winnebago” from Foo Fighters onward to the groovy “Roots Radicals” from Rancid, there is quite a bit of variety on display. The sound quality is not always pristine due to the amateur nature of the recording, but it is pretty impressive what was able to be preserved here. A climactic rendition of “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys with guest screaming from Dave Grohl not only ends the film on a soaring note, but it emphasizes the familial nature of being on tour and collaborating for the sake of art.
The Best Summer feels like a minor miracle. This footage could have easily stayed stored away in a box until it disintegrated, allowing a rich slice of music history to fade away into the ether. But luckily, fate brought Tamara Davis back to her musical roots as a lauded music video director, also giving audiences the gift of seeing her make a feature film fit for the big screen. The experience is like being given an all-access pass to raw creativity over a very breezy 84-minute runtime. You will not unpack any deep traumas or excavate any shocking truths. Yet you will learn so much about these artists and the creative spirit through the minor moments between the big events, which is a truly invaluable gift.
The Best Summer had its World Premiere in the Midnight section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Director: Tamra Davis
Rated: NR
Runtime: 84m
The Best Summer feels like a minor miracle. This footage could have easily stayed stored away in a box until it disintegrated, allowing a rich slice of music history to fade away into the ether.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
