Reckless undergrad Gabi moves into her brother’s New York apartment for a summer, seeking solidarity in the wake of their parents divorce. When she gets there, she finds Sam too busy juggling women and too irked by her provocative antics and almost constant nudity to give her the guidance she needs.

Citing both John Cassavetes and Mike Leigh as influences, Lawrence Michael Levine’s film is thus naturally both a dramatic and structural experiment. Driven by an expansive cast of a who’s-who of New York’s independent filmmaking talent, Gabi on the Roof in July is unpredictable, alive, and true.