Review: ‘The Summer Book’ is a serene meditation on loss and coming of age
2025 / Dir. Charlie McDowell
☆ 4/5
Watch if you like: cottagecore, Midsommar (but not Midsommar), and listening to nature sounds to relax.
Finnish-Swedish author Tove Jansson was best known for her Moomin children’s book series, but it’s her acclaimed autobiographical novel for adults The Summer Book that has now been turned into a feature film—and a lovely one at that.
The story centers around Sophia (played by 10-year-old newcomer Emily Matthews), her wily and weathered grandmother (Glenn Close), and stoic father (Anders Danielsen Lie) during their mid-20th-century summer stay on a small island in the Gulf of Finland. Inspired by Jansson’s real-life family members, all three characters are reckoning with death in some way. For Sophia and her father it’s the loss of their mother and spouse, and for Grandmother (her character remains nameless) it’s with her own approaching mortality.
Writer-director Charlie McDowell (The One I Love, The Discovery, Windfall) beautifully captures the spirit of the source material, which is not an easy feat given the book’s languorous vibe and sparse plot. The solitary setting helps a lot: living alongside the characters as they swim and explore the woods and whittle bark boats lulls you into the slow and steady rhythm of this solitary existence, which is as restorative as a summer getaway ought to be. The film simply delights in the island’s natural Nordic beauty, weaving in shots of sea ice and sunsets and moss and other scenery worthy of a Terrence Malick montage, with Hania Rani’s delicate piano score rippling throughout like a gentle rainfall.
Amidst this picturesque setting, however, is a strong undercurrent of grief that threatens to subsume Father (another nameless character), a writer who copes with his loss by burrowing into his work at the expense of connecting with his also-grieving daughter. Grandmother sees this and continually prods them towards reconnection, even as she engages with Sophia in her own ways—a relationship that’s the emotional core of this chamber piece of a movie between their low-stakes hijinks, thoughtful conversations, and shared bonding moments like silently taking in their serene surroundings.
And that’s what makes this a hangout movie above all, though not the fun, barrel-of-laughs kind. If you’re willing to dive in and surrender to its gentle, deliberately paced wavelength, you’ll be rewarded with a moving meditation on loss, parenting, and coming of age before you’re ready to.