The Summer Book – Review

Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 35 minutes, Director – Charlie McDowell

Young Sophia (Emily Matthews) spends the summer on a small Finnish island with her father (Anders Danielsen Lie) and grandmother (Glenn Close), each quietly dealing with the loss of Sophia’s mother.

The last time we saw Glenn Close in grandmother-mode was in 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy. The standout scene of the uninspiring early-life biopic of future Vice President JD Vance and his family saw her character telling her grandson that “there are three kinds of people in this world – good Terminator, bad Terminator and neutral.” The Summer Book, releasing in the UK almost two years after its London Film Festival premier, sees her adopt a quieter, wiser and warmly curmudgeonly grandmother role.

With some make-up still used to transform her, Close’s performance is so much about how she ages herself by simply holding her posture, slow looks and movements – each done with thought and consideration. There’s plenty of thought throughout The Summer Book. A family, daughter (Emily Matthews’ Sophia), father (Anders Danielsen Lie) and grandmother spend the bright summer days on a Finnish island, each coming to terms with the passing of Sophia’s mother. We don’t see her, or know how she died, but the characters convey a feeling of loss that none are quite sure how to deal with beyond briefly speaking about trying to deal with things and move on.

Much like the location, the summer is a gentle one reflected in the slow pacing. The film gives its scenes time, sometimes a bit too much in the gentility of things, as we travel via rowing boat to other island areas to first of all sit down and recover from the journey.

In these moments the differences in how characters talk to each other depending on age shine. Sophia and her grandmother talk freely and inquisitively about the world around them, if not directly about grief. Whilst her father seems unable to properly talk about much, as Close’s character observes at one point breaking away from the childlike brightness of the film. The tone of a storm sequence has an almost fantastical tone that still slots in with Sophia’s view of the world; on the initial surface less shaken than those of her older family members.

There’s a calm escape, and sense of occasional, as mentioned, childlike joy. Yet, emotion starts to do more than tinge things for the family. Much of it comes across in small gestures and expressions, particularly from Close. Everything about the film feels intentionally restrained and it helps to get across the internalised feelings on display, but at the same time does mean that it can feel a bit too calm to land a full effect.

Yet, there’s still an embrace and warmth amongst the cold surroundings. A sense of given time and understanding conveyed through Charlie McDowell’s direction and the overall quietness of the film. I sat welcomed in to the surroundings and characters’ thoughts, brought in for a calm look at different perceptions of grief.

A gentle, if sometimes too much so, look at generational conversations and responses to grief with some great subtle performances, particularly from Glenn Close, matching the calmness of the environment. The Summer Book could just do with a bit less calmness when it comes to the overall emotion.