"Ragnarok": A Clueless Thor, a Gay Loki, and a Lot of Beefcake

Autistic teenager Danny (Richard Pawulski, left) is working toward a Duke of Edinburgh  Award.  One of the requirements is "expedition," planning and going on an adventure, so Danny talks his parents into leting him go camping in the Welsh countryside.  

The first hour of Cruel Summer juxtaposes Danny's expedition -- buying the equipment, hiking through the woods, setting up his tent, going fishing -- with the mounting tension of what's going to happen next. 

Back home, Julia (Natalie Martins) is angry because Danny rejected her advances, so she wants to "get even."  She tells her boyfriend Nicholas (Danny Miller) that his ex-girlfriend Lisa slept with him.  I don't know why Nicholas would care, since they have broken up, but he gets all angry and plots revenge.  They need a third person, in case the kid tries to defend himself or something, so they tell Calvin (Reece Douglas, left) that Danny is a pedophile murderer responsible for the disappearance of a little girl.  The trio buys some torture/mutilation/murder tools and sets out looking for him.

The last hour of the movie is a blow-by-blow of the trio, mostly Nicholas, humiliating and torturing Danny, as in Deliverance.  I expected Danny to turn into a bad ass and retaliate, as in Deliverance, but he just begs, cries, and screams, as I fast forward.  Eventually Calvin realizes that the other two lied, and goes home.  Julia didn't expect things to go so far, but she stands by mutely as Nicholas continues the torture, and finally hacks Danny to death. 

The last hour is unwatchable torture porn.  Sure, this movie was  "based on a true story": in 2004, a boy with learning disabilities was hacked to death by three teenagers in the Welsh woods.  But it's called fiction for a reason: you get to invent new situations.  Like not having the protagonist die.

This reinforces the myth that people with autism -- and, really, members of any marginalized group -- are perpetual victims, unable to take care of themselves.

Richard Pawulski is not autistic in real life.  Strangely, he gets brutalized and beaten to a pulp in both of his film credits, Cruel Summer (2016) and All in the Valley (2014).  

Beefcake:  We see Richard Pawulski nude -- nice abs and butt. if you don't mind seeing them while he is sobbing. trembling, and begging. 

Other Sights: Just woods.

Gay Characters: Danny doesn't express any heterosexual interest, that I could see.  He can be read as a tortured/murdered gay teen.

I couldn't find out if Richard Pawulski is gay in real life, but Danny Miller plays a gay character on the soap opera Emmerdale Farm.

My Grade:  They killed the gay/autistic kid.  What do you think?

  

source http://everydayheterosexism.blogspot.com/2021/05/cruel-summer-do-you-really-want-to.html