Spike Lee’s electrifying take on the “Son of Sam” murders in NYC during the summer of 1977 centers on the residents of a Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another. Featuring an all-star cast and a killer soundtrack loaded with vintage hits of the ’70s, Summer of Sam focuses not on the crime spree itself, but rather its effect on those who lived through it, offering a jolting look at an infamous moment in NYC history.

The heat is soaring to record highs, blackouts are filling the streets with looters … and the murders of a man who calls himself the Son of Sam are gripping the “city that never sleeps” in fear. The philandering Vinny (John Leguizamo) unwittingly almost becomes a victim of the psychopath, and soon he and numerous people in his orbit – including his wife, Dionna (Mira Sorvino), his punk-rocker friend, Ritchie (Adrien Brody), and aspiring porn star Ruby (Jennifer Esposito) – are trying to figure out the identity of the killer, before it's too late.

Reviews
"Summer of Sam is like a companion piece to Lee’s Do the Right Thing. In a different neighborhood, in a different summer, the same process takes place: The neighborhood feels threatened and needs to project its fear on an outsider. It is often lamented that in modern city neighborhoods, people don’t get to know their neighbors. That may be a blessing in disguise." – Roger Ebert