Odessa A’zion Goes Pool-Hopping in Indie Film ‘Pools’ Official Trailer

Odessa A’zion Goes Pool-Hopping in Indie Film ‘Pools’ Official Trailer

by Alex Billington
August 8, 2025
Source: YouTube

“Free is happy.” “It’s so unclear.” Utopia has debuted the trailer for an indie film titled Pools, opening in select theaters later in August coming soon. The film premiered last year at a few festivals including SXSW Sydney. Pools is a coming-of-age indie comedy made by filmmaker Sam Hayes originally from Chicago. He says: “The original title of Pools was Pools at Night. And that image speaks very simply to what first drew me to the premise of this movie – the magic of a glowing blue pool at night… [It’s] very much inspired by the movies John Hughes made in this same area in the 80s—Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Breakfast Club—some of my favorites ever. I wanted to make a movie like that, but about pool-hopping, which I find so quintessentially coming-of-age.” Starring Odessa A’zion (aka Odessa Adlon), Mason Gooding, Ariel Winter, Tyler Alvarez, Francesca Noel, Michael Vlamis, Suzanne Cryer. In the midst of her whole life falling apart, Kennedy attempts to somehow reconnect with her dead father, searching for permission to live her own life within a wild pool-hopping escape. Looks like a surprisingly good indie discovery – dive in.

Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Sam Hayes’ film Pools, direct from Utopia’s YouTube:

Kennedy (Odessa A’zion) has one day to get her shit together or get kicked out of school for good. Instead of buckling down, she rallies a ragtag crew for a midnight pool-hopping adventure through lavish estates of her college town. But under the surface, Kennedy is searching for answers to the questions tearing her up inside in the wake of her father’s death. As the secrets spill out, this wild escape becomes a cathartic journey of self-discovery. Pools is written and directed by American indie filmmaker Sam Hayes originally from Chicago, making his first feature film after a few other shorts previously. Produced by Sam Hayes, Jack Heston, Seth Savoy, Adonis Tountas, Mike Ware. This initially premiered at a few various film festivals last year. Utopia opens Sam Hayes’ Pools film in select US theaters (at the Music Box in Chicago first) starting August 22nd, 2025 coming soon this month. For more info, visit the film’s official site. Anyone into this?

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