Direction: Charlie McDowell
Country: UK / USA / Finland
Directed by Charlie McDowell (The One I Love, 2014; Windfall, 2022), written by Robert Jones, and starring and co-produced by Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, 1987; Dangerous Liaisons, 1988), The Summer Book is a bland adaptation of Tove Jansson’s 1972 novel of the same name. It follows a grandmother (Close) and her six-year-old granddaughter, Sophia (Emily Matthews), as they spend the summer on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. The young girl and her emotionally distant father (Anders Danielsen Lie), a busy yet lonely illustrator, are still grieving the loss of her mother and his wife, respectively.
Emotional fragility and occasional boredom affect Sophia, while her grandmother—deeply connected to nature—shows signs of memory lapses. The Summer Book is a sweet, tender tale, but its development feels sluggish and its resolution predictable. The film lacks gravity, lingering too long on minute details and subdued gestures that make it feel humble yet monotonous. Rania Hani’s somnolent score does little to invigorate the pacing, which often borders on lethargic.
There are lessons to be learned here, but it takes more than a leading star and gentle plotting to make a film truly resonate. Not to mention that the scenery has more definition than the characters. Slight at its core, The Summer Book remains stubbornly stalled between sincere intentions and a weary torpor.
