Director Paul Middleditch's third feature finds the humanistic filmmaker experimenting with a unique approach while attempting to explore means of overcoming grief and reforging lost human connections. Improvised by the actors, shot on video, and later transcribed into a screenplay and shot on film, A Cold Summer finds three damaged souls in need of companionship. Bobby (Teo Gebert) is a charismatic advertising executive with a drinking problem who lives in his BMW. When jazz singer and compulsive liar Tia (Olivia Pigeot) has her bag stolen, the two meet by chance and forge a tentative connection. Tia later runs into old friend Phaedra (Susan Prior) a "semi-artistic" florist who also dabbles in poetry and songwriting and is still recovering from her boyfriend's drug related death four years earlier. As each character attempts to deal with their own hardships, their relationships with one another prove to be key components in helping them to pick up the pieces and find a new approach to facing life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide