*** My review of Summerland is now live (3.5/5) ***
Summerland sees the very brusque and pragmatic Alice accidentally taking on Frank, a young evacuee during WW2 – as they get to know each other she’s forced to face up to a past love affair she wanted to forget.
It’s also of the first UK cinema releases since lockdown began, and is out on 31 July.
Here’s the full synopsis:
Fiercely independent folklore investigator Alice (Gemma Arterton) secludes herself in her clifftop study, debunking myths using science to disprove the existence of other-worldly forces and magic. Consumed by her work, but also profoundly lonely, she is haunted by a love affair from her past.
When spirited young Frank, an evacuee from the London Blitz, is dumped into her irritable care, his innocence and wonder unlock deeply buried and painful secrets in Alice’s past, and make her re-evaluate what it really means to free your imagination. Bravely embracing life’s miraculous unpredictability, Alice learns that wounds may be healed, hope and second chances do exist, and any woman must defiantly be two things: who and what she wants.
The trailer did make me well up even though I could see exactly how they were manipulating me into feeling that way.
Summerland stars Gemma Arterton as Alice, once again sitting at a clattering typewriter after her performance in the excellent (and also un-cosy) wartime drama Their Finest; Gugu Mbatha-Raw as her ex-lover; Tom Courtenay; Penelope Wilton; and Lucas Bond as wartime evacuee Frank. The film was written and directed by the Olivier-award winning Jessica Swale.
Check out some images from the movie below.
Summerland: images
