Glenn Close stars as the grandmother who guides nine-year-old Sophia (Emily Matthews) through a giddy, winding path toward young adulthood on a tranquil isle in the Gulf of Finland. It’s the first summer without Sophia’s mother, and while her father (Anders Danielsen Lie from “The Worst Person in the World“) remains numbed by grief, grandmother and granddaughter explore the terrain, celebrate midsommar, and test the limits of faith in the face of life’s many storms, all with a tender regard for the wonders of the natural world.
Adapted from Tove Jansson’s beloved novel, The Summer Book is a delicate account of growing up and growing old, beautifully filmed on 16mm in majestic natural light.