Summerland is an easy to watch enjoyable movie. Nothing too difficult, just a simple story with a good outcome. The kind of movie where the characters get your attention and compassion. Gemma Arterton did a good job playing her character and as for the kids, Lucas Bond and Dixie Egerickx certainly were not annoying to watch. They all delivered here which is not always obvious with child actors. The story is well written, not a fast pace but certainly interesting to watch and the ending was a bit surprising but in a good way. Definitely worth a watch.
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deloudelouvain19 October 2021
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Xstal31 July 2020An endearing and easy going tale of a cantankerous lass who gradually comes to terms with the cards she's been dealt when a wartime evacuee lands at her shore. Perfect Sunday afternoon family fare.
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tm-sheehan25 February 2021My Review- Summerland
My Rating 8/10
This is the fourth film I've seen Gemma Arterton in recently and I think her finest performance . She is a very versatile Actress /Producer . Her other recent films The Escape (2017) Black Narcissus,(2020) and Vita and Virginia (2018) are all very different roles and tell me Gemma is another of the great younger British Actresses that will follow in the path of Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith.
Summerland is a hard film to find it had a very short Cinema release and I couldn't find it on my Streaming channels so I was glad to find it on DVD. It's beautifully filmed on location throughout East Sussex in the towns of Seaford & Brighton as well as in the county of Kent and at The Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent . We first are introduced to the main character Alice as an older cranky reclusive woman ( Penelope Wilton) who just wants to get on typing her novel while being bothered with interruptions from village locals . Then we return in time to World War 11 and meet young Alice (Gemma Arterton) still a prickly quick tempered reclusive writer, resigned to a solitary life on the seaside cliffs of Southern England while World War II rages across the channel. Alice has good reason to be cynical and disappointed with life as she has loved and lost . She loved a woman Vera played beautifully by Gugu Mbatha-Raw but as many men and women then had to hide or suppress their sexuality their life together seemed impossible for Vera who wanted children and they parted. Alice opens her front door one day to find she's to adopt a young London evacuee named Frank, played by young Lucas Bond in another fine child acting role.he's perfection as the young war evacuee. He gets to portray some very dramatic moments in "Summerland " and I'm so impressed with the quality of child actors and their training in films today. Alice is horrified at the prospect of sharing her life even for a week with a strange child and she's resistant at first but does her bit for the War effort. It's not long, however, before the two realize they have more in common in their pasts than Alice had assumed. This is an intensely emotional story of love's endurance in trying times. It's beautiful to look at and it has pathos a little whimsy and magic and most importantly a fine script by Jessica Swale an Olivier Award winning playwright , screenwriter and Director. This film is one instance where the author has also done a fine job directing her film adaptation. Tom Courtney at 83 years old also gives a great supporting role performance as Mr Sullivan the village elder. If you can get to see if this fine British film I thoroughly recommend it . -
TxMike11 December 2020Most of the story here is during the 1940s England, WW2 was raging and British cities were being bombed. To help preserve the children many were sent to live with families in rural areas less prone to the warfare. But the story also includes flashbacks to the 1920s and finally ends in the 1970s.
The single lady, an author, is surprised when she is brought a young boy, perhaps 12 or so, to live with her. She was irate and unwelcoming, she was sure there was a mistake. But slowly the boy wins her heart and only near the end of the movie does she fully realize why she was chosen, as the only one the mother back in London trusted would take care of him.
It is a good movie, well-filmed and well-acted. My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. The title is a reference to a fictitious place that is sort of a pagan version of where you go when you die. -
ferguson-630 July 2020Greetings again from the darkness. We get our first glimpse of Alice Lamb as an older woman in 1975 pounding away on her Royal typewriter before abruptly and rudely shooing neighborhood kids away from her door. We then flashback thirty-something years to World War II, and find a younger version of Alice still clacking away on the same Royal and still chasing off the local youngsters. Segments with the older Alice bookend the film, but most of our time is spent with the younger Alice in the first feature film from writer-director Jessica Swale, a renowned playwright.
Gemma Arterton (QUANTUM OF SOLACE, 2008) plays younger Alice, a writer and researcher based in the countryside of Kent. She's not just a reclusive writer, but we learn she's holding a grudge against the world ever since she was denied true love while at University. The townspeople view her as antisocial, while the local kids refer to as a witch. When the local school Headmaster (Tom Courtenay) refers to her "stories", she quickly corrects him to "Academic Thesis." It's no wonder she's earned the label, "Beast on the Beach."
During the German Blitz, many London families sent their kids to live with families in the much safer countryside. One day an official brings young Frank (Lucas Bond) to Alice's home for temporary guardianship, and she responds "I don't want him" ... yes, in front of the boy. Frank's father is fighting during the war, while his mother is working with the ministry. Of course, we know that Alice's iceberg of a heart will eventually thaw, and it begins when Frank expresses an interest in the legends and folklore at the center of Alice's research. Of particular interest to Frank is Summerland, the pagan term for afterlife, and the corresponding images.
As an evacuee, Frank is a bit of an outsider at school, but he makes friends with Edie (Dixie Egerickx, THE LITTLE STRANGER, 2018), a spirited young lady who, like most kids, doesn't much trust Alice. It's interesting to watch as Frank and Alice reluctantly grow closer, but this is war time, and joy is sometimes difficult to come by. However, this odd couple seem good for a life lessons to the other.
Penelope Wilton plays the older Alice and Gugu Mbatha-Raw lights up the screen in only a few scenes, and it's Ms. Arterton's best work since TAMARA DREWE (2010). Young Alice experiences visions and memories of a past life not meant to be. The twist is quite obvious, yet no less effective. Ms. Swale's film is sentimental and melodramatic, and probably employs a few too many clichés. Yet, although predictable, it does offer hope; and given the times we are in, a hopeful message is quite welcome - as is the reminder that "stories have to come from somewhere." -
lindsey-1960131 July 2021This is really pretty. The acting is good enough to distract from the (many) historical inaccuracies. Tom Courtenay is wonderful as ever, just love him. The plot is probably predictable but sweet nevertheless. I just couldn't get past the historical issues. Inclusive casting which is obviously commendable in a modern day setting, was just absolutely not right for this era. A Mixed race, lesbian relationship, mixed race children, black and Asian families all in a rural 1940's England and not one mention made of it. Nope sorry. Nice idea but even The Brothers Grimm would have struggled to make that believable. It would have been an issue in the modern day 1975 setting let alone the parochial 1940's countryside.
There was way too much sugar in the bowl, chips for tea - how much lard on ration?! - radio in the car (unlikely), petrol on ration, 'jewel bright' woolly hats for each child presumably to lift the wardrobe gloom... hmmm.. I guess we're supposed to look past all that and enjoy the story. Worth a rainy Sunday watch but be ready for a degree of artistic license. -
SnoopyStyle24 January 2021During WWII, reclusive spinster writer Alice Lamb (Gemma Arterton) is looked upon as a witch by the rest of the seaside community. She writes about the theory of fantasies and mythological lore. Her latest obsession is sightings of islands in the sky. Out of the blue, the authorities leave her a boy. Frank is a child evacuee from London. She is desperate to get rid of him. He befriends fellow black sheep classmate Edie. In flashbacks, Alice has a lesbian romance with Vera (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).
I really like the kids' relationship and Alice with the boy. There are two problems. The easiest to solve is the ending. I want Frank to end up with Edie. Why can't they show up at the cottage with happy cute little kids? I hate that their last scene is that scene. The bigger problem is Frank ending up with Alice in the first place. One must assume that Vera had written a letter to Alice to tell her about Frank. The easiest solution to that would be to have the first letter in the movie be that letter. Alice would be so frustrated that she wouldn't even open it. She could stuff it back into the mail box and when she finds the photos, she could scramble to finally open that first letter. That is a better sequencing of events. -
selffamily12 May 2022The cynical heroine of this story is played extremely well, and every thought shows on her face. The rest of the cast are stellar too and it's great to see Tom Courtney back in vogue, this isn't the first recent film with him. The story is simple, somewhat predictive and some licence has been taken with facts - no blackout, people wandering at ease on beaches - but it's a beautiful story, and even on a day when the last thing I wanted was to watch a film, I was hooked. Highly recommended to anyone with a heart.
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Erik_Stone3 December 2020If you are going to do a LGBT film, and want to turn a profit, this is the way to do it. I, certainly was tricked.
Good acting. Good, pretty much all around. -
hilrnorr30 August 2020This movie was a heart-warming tale of how love can find its way back. The main characters were so very well portrayed. I so needed this break from the cruelties of reality. The young man who played Frank was exceptional. It was a very clean and wholesome film, and anyone who finds issue with the content has to be a close-minded individual.
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a-clinch118 August 2021A gentle family film with its heart in the right place. A lovely cast.
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hollywoodsmle2 August 2020I rarely write reviews, but was alarmed to see this film have such a low rating. This film has amazing acting; everyone truly is their character. Gemma is Alice! It is a sweet story among an unsweet time, and beautiful scenery will take your breathe away. I truly loved it!
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hughallen-6637711 November 2020Watching this film online (my monthly freebie from my bank) provided a pleasant escape from the harsh realities of the Second National Lockdown, but it was spoiled by the inevitable intrusion of 2020 woke values in a film supposedly set in a quite different era. Not only was the love of the central character's life rather unrealistically a woman of evidently mixed race, but near the beginning this particular pc lily was gilded by the equally unnecessary casting of an Indian woman and her child for their brief appearance as customers in a village shop in deepest east Kent. And in the early years of WW2 would a well-grown boy of 11 or 12 have been automatically consigned to the back of the car when the front passenger seat was unoccupied? (It was difficult to work out how old he was in fact supposed to be; the one piece of class instruction we saw was more appropriate for children of 7 or 8.)
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This is a beautifully shot film with some of southern England's prettiest scenery using some skilled cinematography. The acting is pretty good too, and it holds the entire thing together. But the anachronisms and historical inaccuracies (evacuation starts 1st Sep 1939, war declared 3rd Sep 1939, blitz starts 7th Sep 1940, and that's just the beginning) are ignorant and laughable, detract immensely from the story for me, and left me wishing I didn't have such a clear knowledge of WW2 chronology and history.
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Gordon-1116 August 2020This story is beautiful in every way. From the scenery, to the cinematography, to the selfless act of taking in children from London, and to the forbidden love that transcends time. I love every bit of this film!
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ks-6050027 August 2020Gemma attracted my eyeball all the time in this movie. From anger, joy, loving, frustration, to sadness, she just nail every emotions. She have a neighbor girl looks but just excellent the way she acted. Awesome !
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valadas7 October 2020At the beginning of Words War II London was heavily bombed by German planes and the children were evacuated to the country where local families took safely care of them. Frank (Lucas Bond) as one of those little boys who was sent to Alice's (Gemma Arterton) home without her consent which makes their relationship a bit uncongenial and disagreeable in the beginning but the nice bhaviour of the boy finishes by conquer her friendship and love later on. A tragic incident occurs meanwhile when the boy's father who is a war pilot is killed in combat and Alice fails to tell it to Frank which provokes a strong reaction from him when he knows it from someone else. He runs away to London and Alice runs after h im there and manages to bring him back home, The movie has something like a happy end when the boy's mother appears to them and she was Alice's lover since Alice is gay. Alice didn't know that her lover was the boy's mother though it was she who sent the boy to her care although confidentially. This puts the three together on a nice relationship. Not being a masterpiece this is a good movie anyhow due the excellent performing of all performer namely Lucas Bond in the role of Frank.
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movieman6-413-92951013 August 2020Summerland is a new war drama directed and written by Jessica Swale. This is the first major film she has directed and written, as she has only directed short films before.
The film is set during the Second World War. To work on her writing, Alice (Gemma Arterton) retreats to the seaside cliffs in Dover in southern England. In her solitude, she tries to work on important books about the scientific proof that myths and magic don't exist. When she opens the door one day, she is asked to take care of the runaway boy Frank (Lucas Bond). Alice tries to take care of Frank, but prefers that he go to another hiding place as soon as possible, so that she can continue working on her books. Despite the fact that she tries to be aloof towards Frank, a bond between the two develops thanks to his innocence and curiosity. In this way she is confronted with her past and she learns that she may have to experience her life in a different way
This film has a beautiful and emotional story about how people try to hide their emotions and feelings in difficult times. Without this really helping them. Despite the fact that at a time the film seems obvious, it still keeps a beautiful and inspiring story. Jessica Swale has beautifully juxtaposed the scenes of the main character where the film jumps from the now to the past.
Director Jessica Swale and photography director Laurie Rose, have also portrayed many scenes and places of the film in a nice and fitting way. The sea cliff of Dover comes across as a summer location where you can forget your problems for a moment.
The acting is also done well by the cast. Gemma Arterton comes across as the Oscar-winning role that Jack Nicholson played in the 1997 film As Good As It Gets in this role. Together with Lucas Bond, she has a good chemistry that changes her character throughout the film. In the Flashback scenes, Gemma Arterton also has a good chemistry with the character of Gugu Mbatha-Raw who plays an old friend of hers in the movie. Dixie Egerickx also comes out well in this film as a friend of Lucas Bond's character. She shows with this role that she can be a good young actress if she has a good script to work with. In the same weekend she was also seen in the movie The Secret Garden where she came across as too negative because of a less script. -
collindixon-583007 November 2020After giving up on finding decent films in 2020, I came across the trailer for Summerland on Youtube and it pricked my attention as I find both Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw both very engaging actors.
I'm so glad that i ended up buying Summerland as it's a film filled with emotion, tenderness, strength and vulnerability. As yes the film has a plot of Lesbianism, but it's so well written that it is never the main focus of the film, (as with a lot very woke films) because the story is about love, tenderness and eternal hope.
Gemma Arterton really switches it up her role as Alice and one why you can see why she is a leading lady, her ability to convey so much emotions in her eyes and expressions are that of someone that really knows their craft.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, even though isn't in the film much, (like with most of her roles) but when in a scene she really does shine and radiates.
If you want to get away from all the craziness of 2020 and watch a film that engages you, fills you with emotions and gets right back to humanity, I can't recommend Summerland highly enough. -
Moviegoer193 August 2020I was prepared to love this film because I really like Gemma Arterton and I love English films, in particular ones related to WWII and that time period. But alas, it wasn't to be. A couple of things got in the way of it being really great, the first of which was the relationship between Alice and Vera. Shown in flashback snippets, they seemed to me artificial, contrived, and unbelievable. Perhaps it should have been done differently? For example, without flashbacks but chronologically. Then when Alice learned that David's mother was Vera: another thing that to me was unbelievable. And, finally, the use of different actors to play Alice and Vera when they were older. This didn't work at all for me. In fact, it seemed ridiculous. Why didn't the director, or whoever decides these things, have Gemma and GuGu be made up to look older? That would have worked so much better.
I did give it a 7 indicating there were good things about Summerland. It's a sweet or bittersweet story. The relationship between Alice and David is touching - and believable, and both of these actors were excellent. There are beautiful shots of the coastline and the rolling hills in the English countryside. And, I enjoyed the character of Alice: a rebellious individualist and writer. Overall, I'd say it's worth seeing. -
stylemessiah3 January 2021Possibly Gemma Artertons best outing yet, what a great turn as her character.
If you want to lose track of time and enjoy it, this film does the job, with a great story that surprises. Just when you think you're settling in for one story, it turns a corner...
Perfect lazy afternoon fodder -
l2t22 October 2022The cinemography is wonderful. Every shot is composed with elegance. So much of film to today is hype. It's nice to watch a film both for the plot and the wonderfully composed images. The actors are wonderful also included and especially the children. This isn't a knock you over the head movie like all the CGI shoot-storm super hero movies. This is a relax and take it in on at the end of the week kind of film. It's nice to watch a film that is a piece of art moreso than a film trying to suck $$$ in at the box office. The scenery is wonderful. The lightning it wonderful. The shot composition is wonderful.
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Phil-28311 November 2021There is no crazy action or high drama here, but what there is, is gentle, moving, and brilliant.
Gemma Arterton carries this film from start to finish in what is in my opinion her best ever performance.
She is crazy, unhinged, weird, but then melts as the story unfolds. It throws in a surprise I did not see coming and ends beautifully.
The supporting cast is excellent but this is one woman's film. -
rhmosh25 August 2020Absolutely Loved this movie! The atmosphere, cinematography and soundtrack were so beautiful. And I'm so happy they got to grow old together & have a happy ending.
- it reminded me of carol, being a sapphic period movie -
Also the kid who plays Frank is so talented. -
traceytak1 August 2021This film had no atmosphere of the 1940s, yes everyone was dressed up in the right way but there was no war feeling or character involved. Driving a car around the country when petrol was precious and needed for the war effort?? Children actually being listened to with regard to what they wanted, no the adults were in charge in those days, children didn't have a voice.
The film did not represent what it was supposed to and I would say written by someone who hasn't got a clue what life was like back then. The girl screaming in the shop because she couldn't have the chocolate she wanted, well that would not have been tolerated and as for the adults surrounding her showing her sympathy, nah dreamland more than summerland. It was so removed from reality that it should have been labelled a fantasy film.