There are certain movies that feel like summer in a bottle, and Goodbye Stuart is shaping up to be exactly that.
The new short film from actress, producer and emerging filmmaker Amelie Anstett arrives today, August 17, just as summer starts giving us that inevitable wait… where did the time go? feeling.
Starring Anstett alongside Ashton Arbab and Isha Punja, the coming-of-age story follows three best friends during the final day of summer before one of them heads off to college — and, naturally, realizes that growing up is a lot more complicated than anyone warned her it would be.
Written, produced, co-directed and starring Anstett, Goodbye Stuart is rooted in the universal experience of saying goodbye to a version of your life you aren’t quite ready to leave behind.
And if you’re looking for the perfect end-of-summer watch before school starts back up, consider this your sign.
Set over the course of a single summer day, Goodbye Stuart centers on Elle (Anstett), who is preparing to leave her hometown of Stuart for college in New York. Alongside her longtime friends, Ethan (Arbab) and Sophie (Punja), she spends one final day revisiting the people, places and memories that have shaped her childhood.
But there’s a catch: while you’re living through a moment, you don’t always realize it’s going to become a memory.
That’s the heart of Goodbye Stuart.
“Goodbye Stuart is about the last day of summer for these three best friends,” Anstett explained to Celeb Secrets. “And Elle, who I play, she is getting ready to go on her own journey and branch off from their beautiful hometown of Stuart.”
The film, she added, is ultimately “about the chapters that we leave behind that in the moment you maybe don’t realize you’re leaving behind, and then you turn the page and sometimes a lot of things change.”
While Goodbye Stuart is a starring vehicle for Anstett, the project also marks a major new chapter in her career as a filmmaker. After beginning her career as a dancer — including performing on Justin Bieber‘s Purpose Tour at just 12 years old — Anstett transitioned into acting, appearing in Hulu films, Chicken Girls and a number of short films. Now, she’s expanding her creative resume by taking on nearly every role imaginable behind the scenes.
For her filmmaking debut, Anstett wrote, produced, co-directed and stars in Goodbye Stuart. And somehow, she managed to make it look effortless.
“I didn’t have one specific role. I was truly doing everything,” she told Celeb Secrets. “But I felt so grateful to be surrounded by such an incredible crew.”
The two-day shoot was fast-paced and packed with long days, but Anstett said the experience wasn’t nearly as stressful as she expected.
“Going into it that first day, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna take a deep breath this morning. We’re gonna do things as I would normally do and just really take it all in,’” she recalled. “And that’s what I did.”
Her biggest lesson? Be present.
That advice actually came from Arbab during their first meeting. When Anstett asked what advice he would give someone stepping into their first project, he told her to “really try to just be in the moment and be present and kind of take it all in.”
For Anstett, it stuck.
“Life’s too short and I wanna, like, be there to really witness it all,” she said.
The friendship between Elle and Ethan is essential to the film, which meant finding the right actor to play Ethan was no small task. Luckily, Anstett didn’t have to look too far. She and Arbab share the same manager, and after seeing his reel among several submissions for the role, Anstett immediately knew she wanted to meet him.
“Ashton really stood out to me,” she said. “He’s just so talented as an actor.”
But she wanted to know what he was like off camera, too.
“For me it’s all about who you work with and how their personalities in real life kind of transpire to being on set,” Anstett explained.
That first meeting turned into the foundation for the chemistry audiences will see in Goodbye Stuart. Arbab remembers sitting with Anstett for an hour and a half, simply talking about their lives, friendships and past experiences.
“We just sat on, like, a park bench and just talked,” he said. “Talking about our life and getting to know each other on a deep level, I think that really translates to what you’re gonna see on the camera.”
That built-in comfort became especially important because Ethan and Elle have known each other since childhood. And apparently, the chemistry was convincing enough to fool the crew.
During one scene, Anstett and Arbab were preparing for an emotional moment by going back and forth with each other and listening to “really sad music.” Their commitment was so convincing that their sound guy thought they were actually arguing.
“We were really in the zone prepping,” Anstett laughed.
The nostalgia behind the film is also deeply personal for Anstett. While writing the script, she pulled from her own experiences growing up, but also talked to her parents, friends and other people in her life about their memories of transitioning from high school into the next chapter.
“I looked at the common denominator of all the stories, and everyone had a Stuart,” she explained. “Whether it was a place, a person, just a specific moment for them in time.”
That idea became the emotional backbone of the film.
“Everyone’s gonna be able to hopefully relate to” the story, she said.
And that’s what makes Goodbye Stuart feel especially fitting for this particular time of year. Whether your summer is ending with a move, a new school year, a new city, a new friendship or simply the realization that things aren’t going to be exactly the same anymore, the film taps into that strange space between being excited for what’s next and desperately wanting to hold onto what’s familiar.
Goodbye Stuart may be a goodbye to one chapter, but neither Anstett nor Arbab is slowing down anytime soon.
Arbab recently filmed a new movie called Princess with Lucy Hale and Adam Demos, described as a rom-com with an action element, and also has a recurring role in L.O.L. Surprise! which dropped earlier this month. He’s additionally making his feature directorial debut with Method, a psychological thriller that he is writing, directing, producing and starring in.
Meanwhile, Anstett recently wrapped her first leading feature film, Stigmas, a drama-thriller starring Robert Knepper. For the actress, getting to work alongside the Prison Break star was a full-circle moment.
And if Goodbye Stuart is any indication, Anstett’s move into filmmaking is only getting started. She revealed that the original story was actually written as something longer before she decided to turn it into a short for her first project. Which means there could be more Goodbye Stuart in the future.
“There’s definitely a world where Goodbye Stuart lives to a broader, you know, in a broader way, in different ways,” she teased. “And I think that the direction that the story would go would really excite the viewers.”
For now, though, there’s only one thing left to do: grab your besties, squeeze every last drop out of summer and watch Goodbye Stuart. Because sometimes the hardest part of growing up isn’t figuring out where you’re going — it’s saying goodbye to where you’ve been.
For more on Goodbye Stuart, make sure to watch our full interview with Amelie and Ashton below. Don’t forget to let us know if you love the flick by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sliding into our DMs on Instagram at @celebsecrets.
Interview quotes have been edited and condensed for clarity.
