Summer of 8

Eight teenagers -- four girls, four boys -- prepare to say farewell by enjoying one last perfect summer day before college, in Ryan Schwartz's gauzily dreamlike coming of age comedy-drama "Summer of 8."

Among the boys the leader of the pack is Jesse (Carter Jenkins, "Mad Men"), who is determined to extricate himself from the close, and slightly confining, bonds he's forged with best friend Bobby (Nick Marini). (When your fellow students vote you "Best Couple," and you're not gay, maybe it's time to branch out a little.) But when he heads off to a different college than his friends, will he also start losing touch with his girlfriend, Lily (Shelley Hennig, "Teen Wolf")?

Love-struck Aiden (Michael Grant, "The Secret Life of the American Teenager") has a similar problem, only worse: He's completely hung up on Serena (Bailey Noble, "True Blood"), but he's never worked up the nerve to tell her so. Today might be his last chance.

The fourth member of the boys' club is Oscar (Matt Shively, "The Real O'Neals"), a Seth Rogan-esque guy whose patter is as disarmingly funny as it is obscene. When queried about what he'd regard as a perfect day, he declares it would be "drinking until I find myself knee-deep in forbidden pussy." Luckily, a real heart beats beneath that chauvinist pig exterior, which gives him the ghost of a chance with the bored Jen (Natalie Hall, "Pretty Little Liars"), a young woman who, in contrast to her friends, is also ready to say goodbye to high school and strike out into the wider world.

Rounding out the girls' side of the equation is Em (Rachel DiPillo, "Chicago Med"), who is both smart and gorgeous: " 'Most Likely to Succeed,' " she tells her girlfriends, "is code for 'Biggest Nerd.' "

The film, never in a hurry and comfortable with the realities of youth culture, allows the kids to hang out on the beach drinking and smoking weed. When night falls, they retire to a patio, where they cluster around a fire pit and break out the ecstasy. Their talk is frankly sexual and almost naively sentimental by turns; one moment they're reassuring each other about letting go of childhood, and the next they're engaged in pillow talk about ecstasy's amazing side-effects. (It delays ejaculation.) John Hughes this isn't, though one character gives a shout out to a Hughes movie during a rapid recitation of her favorite 1980s films ("The Breakfast Club," natch), and you can almost sense Hughes' spirit smiling at the ways in which the teen genre has grown.

Not quite aimless -- and far too articulate to be entirely naturalistic -- "Summer of 8" rolls along on the charms of its youthful cast, powered by soulful music and a storybook setting (California, nice homes, privilege in the very air these kids breathe). There's also a voice-over as Jesse -- still grieving the loss of his father -- narrates his feelings to dear, departed Dad. It feels like the sort of lazy day at the seaside you only half-remember once you have a few years an an adult under your belt.