4. Moonrise Kingdom
On New Penzance Island, Sam Shakusky, a 12-year-old orphan, is spending his summer at Camp Ivanhoe. He befriended a girl of the same age named Suzy Bishop, and they became best friends for a year. The next summer, two 13-year-old children decided to flee and spend time exploring the island of New Penzance. Described by Suzy as this beautiful New England home, the Moonawn Kingdom does a beautiful job of putting you into Wes Anderson’s mind.
In interviews, Wes Anderson said he was inspired to create this film because he wanted to document his childhood fantasies. While the movie is meant to take place in the 1960’s, many of us who went to scout camps in the summer can completely relate to the experience. New Penzance doesn’t exist in real life, so parts of the movie were shot on Prudence Island, RI The red house used in the film is Suzy’s parents’ house called Conanicut Island Light, which used to be is an earlier active lighthouse.
