RomanceDrama

Summer of 85

What do you dream of when you're 16-years-old and in a seaside resort in Normandy in the 1980s? A best friend? A lifelong teen pact? Scooting off on adventures on a boat or a motorbike? Living life at breakneck speed? No. You dream of death. Because you can't get a bigger kick than dying. And that's why you save it till the very end. The summer holidays are just beginning, and this story recounts how Alexis grew into himself.

Release Date : 2020-07-14

Language :EnglishFrench

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Mandarin ProductionSCOPE PicturesFOZFrance 2 CinémaPlaytimeRTBF

Production Country : BelgiumFrance

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Alexis Robin

Original Name : Félix Lefebvre

Gender : Male

Character Name : David Gorman

Original Name : Benjamin Voisin

Gender : Male

Character Name : Kate

Original Name : Philippine Velge

Gender : Female

Character Name : Madame Gorman

Original Name : Valeria Bruni Tedeschi

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mr. Lefèvre

Original Name : Melvil Poupaud

Gender : Male

Character Name : Madame Robin

Original Name : Isabelle Nanty

Gender : Female

Character Name : Mr. Robin

Original Name : Laurent Fernandez

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Educator

Original Name : Aurore Broutin

Gender : Female

Character Name : Bernard

Original Name : Bruno Lochet

Gender : Male

Character Name : Luc

Original Name : Yoann Zimmer

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chris

Original Name : Antoine Simony

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Judge

Original Name : Patrick Zimmermann

Gender : Male

Character Name : Gorman's Brother

Original Name : Samuel Brafman-Moutier

Gender : Male

Character Name : The Rabbi

Original Name : Benjamin Allouche

Gender : Male

Reviews

SWITCH.

@maketheSWITCH

2021-06-23

Francois Ozon's 'Summer of 85' is a bittersweet film, one that ultimately encourages its audience to embrace the joy and the heartache of first love, along with the ephemerality of having a life-changing presence in your life. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-summer-of-85-a-refreshingly-nuanced-coming-of-age-story

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2022-03-27

Félix Lefebvre (who reminded me, here, of a young Charlie Hunnam in "Queer as Folk" (1999)) is sixteen year old "Alex" who takes his friend's dinghy out for a sail and gets caught in a thunderstorm that capsizes his boat. Luckily for him, Benjamin Voisin ("David") is nearby and tows him ashore and into his mother's recuperative bathtub! The next six weeks are now depicted in a cleverly interwoven mix of current and recent storylines as we realise that a tragedy has occurred and that the two young men had something of a relationship during the intervening period. On the face of it - it's just a gay coming of age drama, but Levebvre has an intensity and innocence about him. His performance as the young man who falls so completely and utterly in love is heart-rending, sincere and stylishly captured by the photography - and must remind all of us of that first, inexplicable, "love" that we may well still recall to this day. To be fair, it is easy to see why he fell for the charismatic, exciting "David" - who offers him profound changes to his life, and to the rather linear options that most of us faced at 16 - job or school - but the story is more nuanced than that and though it is certainly not without some fairly substantial holes and inconsistencies, it sort of works. The Cure's "In Between Days" and an oddly effective "Sailing" from Rod Stewart provide a remarkably potent soundtrack that resonates not just the moment, but the sentiment too. Not, maybe, Ozon's finest work but I suspect we may see more roles from his young star in the future.