Nine-year-old Sophia (Emily Matthews) spends the summers at her family’s seasonal home on a tranquil isle in the Gulf of Finland, but this will be the first summer without her mother. Her father (Anders Danielsen Lie) remains numbed by grief, while her grandmother (Glenn Close) guides her on a giddy, winding path towards young adulthood. With a sense of infinite possibility and a tender regard for the wonders of the natural world, Sophia and her grandmother explore the terrain, celebrate midsommar, and test the limits of faith in the face of life’s many storms. Adapted from Tove Jansson’s beloved novel, The Summer Book is a delicate account of growing up and growing old, beautifully filmed on 16mm in majestic natural light.
Official Selection
BFI London Film Festival
“Attentive to characterful details of accent and posture, Close plays this tender-tough old bird beautifully.”
Guy Lodge
Variety
“It’s rare to come across a film so peaceful and sublime, never grating or meandering, so deeply in love with the magnificence of life on this planet... It’s remarkably touching and so lovely to spend time with these people on this island.”
Alex Billington
FirstShowing.net
"An absolute gem of a film.”
Carson Timar
ButteredPopcorn
