The Summer Book (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts | Glenn Close is a force of nature - video Dailymotion

Film Brain

Film Brain takes a journey to Finland to visit a formidable Glenn Close performance, in this adaptation of Tove Jansson's book, which is visual and aural delight.

Transcript

00:00An excellent Glenn Close performance is the anchor for The Summer Book,

00:03based on the book by Moomin's creator Tove Jansson.

00:06After the death of her mother, Emily Matthews' Sophia is taken by her father,

00:10Anders Danielsson Lee, to see her grandmother, played by Close,

00:13who lives on an island in the Gulf of Finland.

00:16There, the two spend the summer exploring and connecting with nature,

00:19and helping Sophia with her loss as her grandmother confronts her own twilight.

00:24This is directed by Charlie McDowell, son of Malcolm,

00:26who previously held The One I Love and Windfall,

00:29and his wife, Lily Collins, is a producer.

00:32I saw it at last year's BFI London Film Festival,

00:34and it has finally been released in the US,

00:36after unsurprisingly being a major hit in Finland earlier in 2025.

00:41This is very much carried by Glenn Close's performance as the grandmother,

00:45who's very tough and resilient, but has a gentle heart,

00:48and she's absolutely compelling.

00:50The dynamic between the old woman at the end of her life

00:52and the young girl at the start of hers works here,

00:55and there's a warmth and humour to it,

00:57as Close's grandmother spends a lot of time trying to care for and listen to Sophia

01:01in her father's absence,

01:02who's burying himself in work to avoid facing his own grief.

01:06I thought newcomer Emily Matthews was good as the daughter Sophia,

01:09precocious and likeable,

01:11but still felt authentically like a kid,

01:13but this is very much Close's show.

01:16We can tell Close is dying because she has the dreaded cough,

01:19and there's a boatman who's a metaphor for death,

01:21but she's still a fighter,

01:23although I will have to admit the thing that I most took away from the film

01:27was a scene where Close pees on a rock.

01:30As you can tell, and this will be unsurprising to fans of the book,

01:33this is not a plot-heavy film at all,

01:35which can work in its favour,

01:37as it has a very calming and relaxing feeling,

01:40but it also feels somewhat slight even at 90 minutes.

01:43That being said,

01:44I will remind you that I did see this during a hectic film festival,

01:47which can exhaust the patience and nuance out of you,

01:50so maybe take that with a pinch of salt.

01:53The film is generally quite episodic,

01:55as Close and her granddaughter go on little adventures,

01:58like a long section where they go to a neighbouring house

02:00and encounter a bunch of friendly, if not very considerate, yuppies.

02:04Mostly it's about the beauty of nature.

02:07The sound design is especially good here,

02:09the crashing of the waves,

02:11and a sequence late in the film involving a lighthouse with a fierce storm.

02:14I found this to be a rather pleasant film,

02:17very gentle in terms of pacing and structure,

02:19but it does have some less interesting stretches.

02:22It probably won't be as beloved as the book that it's based on,

02:25but it is diverting in its own way.

The Summer Book (REVIEW) | Projector Shorts | Glenn Close is a force of nature

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended