A little bonus content this week in the form of a screener review. Big thanks to Ruth and Conic Films for sending over a screener of The Summer Book. It opens in Irish and U.K. cinemas this Friday, 7 August.
Title: The Summer Book
Director: Charlie McDowell
Premiered: 12 October 2024 (BFI London Film Festival – U.K.)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Sophia (Emily Matthews), her father (Anders Danielsen Lie), and her grandmother (Glenn Close) all spend the summer at a house in the Gulf of Finland.
What should be a happy summer is overshadowed by the recent death of Sophia’s mother. It has impacted each of them in different ways. The father tries to lose himself in work, leaving Sophia to feel abandoned. Sophia, meanwhile, seeks solace in her grandmother. And the grandmother is grappling with facing her own mortality.
Will the summer together help them grieve and grow closer?
Almost immediately you find out that The Summer Book isn’t going to have a traditional narrative. This is more of a free-flowing story. Everything is taking place over the course of the summer, beyond that, the timeline is irrelevant. We float in and out of different adventures that Sophia and her grandmother embark on along with interactions with the father.
A big part of why the way this is told works is due to the performances from both Emily Matthews, in what was her very first role, and Glenn Close. Matthews brings an earnest curiosity and simmering frustration to Sophia. It’s a character that’s quietly complex, but the way in which Matthews pulls it off has me hoping we see a lot more from her in the future.
Meanwhile, Close, as the grandmother, is the anchor that holds the whole film together. In addition to coming to terms with her own mortality, she’s trying to be Sophia’s rock while also doing what she can to bring Sophia and her father closer again. My favorite scenes with her are the ones where she and Sophia talk about scouting and camping.
From a technical standpoint, there were two standouts for me: Sturla Brandth Grøvlen’s cinematography and Hania Rani’s score. This was filmed on location in the Gulf of Finland and Grøvlen highlights it in every scene. Whether it is the woods, the shoreline, or the water itself, the natural beauty of the area is on full display. Rani’s score is rather prominent throughout the whole film. It excels in complementing a scene without overtaking it or telling you how to feel.
The Summer Book is based on a novel of the same name by Tove Jansson. While I haven’t read the source material, I can say that this made me want to check it out. I think that is one of the highest compliments that you can give a film adaptation.