SXSW 2026 Review: SUMMER 2000: THE X-CETRA STORY, Three Chords and the Truth

Rediscovering friendship by plunging deeply into unknown emotional territory.

Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story
The film enjoys its world premiere at SXSW 2026. Visit the official festival site for more information.

In the summer of 2000, preteen Ayden Mayeri moved to Santa Rosa, California, instantly becoming Best Friends Forever with the same-aged Jessica Hall. It was a bond that was quickly expanded when they met same-aged Janet and her slightly younger sister Mary Washburn.

The group of girls sparked instantly, talking and laughing incessantly. They did everything together that summer -- running and playing, sleeping over, making short films recorded on a home video camera -- culminating in making music together and recording an album, produced by Janet and Mary's musician mother (Robin O'Brien) in a spare room. They called themselves X-Cetra.

They briefly imagined themselves as pop stars, but after hearing the haunting textured layers that Robin added in post-production, including distinctive drum beats that a friend gave her permission to use, the young friends relinquished any dreams of stardom, and mentioned the album only to a few girlfriends, not ever to boys.

After that summer, they began to walk different paths. A distance grew between the three same-aged girls (Ayden, Jessica, and Janet) as they entered adolescence, and the younger Mary, who was left behind to fend for herself. As Ayden, Jessica, and Janet acquired boyfriends and dealt with adolescent issues, they made different choices for themselves as they figured out who they were as individuals and forged their own identities, which further opened the growing gulf between them.

By 2020, Ayden had become a working actor, while Jessica, Janet, and Mary had became successful professionals in non-creative fields. They were all happily partnered and leading happy lives.

Then the album was discovered, and began spreading like wildfire through the internet among people with an interest in little-known, independent music, eventually reaching a record label with an abiding desire to bring unknown pleasures to the public eye (and ears). The record label reached out and a deal was signed, giving the four members of X-Cetra an opportunity and motivating reason to reunite.

Beyond the fascinating narrative of discovering an album, made by preadolescent girls and forgotten for 20 years, is that director Ayden Mayeri plunges deeply into her own forgotten memories and looks at them from an unblinkered adult perspective. First, she reads from the diary she kept throughout her middle school days, which, yes, often sounds quite funny and frankly childish, but who wouldn't sound like that?

Then the filmmaker spends a good portion of time placing each of her friends into their current circumstances and headspace about what has happened before spending time with them together as they reunite and catch up for the first time in years. As they spend time together and reflect upon their changing dynamic, they are all willing to confront what drove them apart.

None of this dissolves into shouting matches or physical violence. This isn't a reality TV show, after all; it's a film that examines longtime friendships from all angles. I think it's true that some longtime friends can spark again instantly, even after years apart, though other longtime friends who have grown apart will never be close again.

Happily for Ayden, Jessica, Janet and Mary, their friendship sparks again instantly, which is just one of the reasons why Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story is a tremendous blast to watch and experience, even if you're not, somehow, a fan of their music.

(Although, frankly, I think it's great: 8 songs in 23 minutes that are endlessly replayable, and available now.)