In Oliver Assayas’s lovely and lyrical Summer Hours (in limited release, and available on IFC On Demand), the things most families leave unsaid are dragged front and center.
The film concerns three siblings (played by Juliette Binoche, Jérémie Renier, and Charles Berling) and their inheritance — a country home that’s filled with a beautiful art collection. The divvying-up of familial artifacts raises some complex questions about their late mother and brings deep tensions between the sister and the brothers to the surface. Thankfully, Assayas steers away from the obvious sentimentalities and toward a totally unexpected (but satisfying) ending.
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