Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 2020
Summer of 85
Buy Summer of 85 now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'Summer of 85' is a 2020 romantic drama film written and directed by Franois Ozon, partly based on the 1982 novel 'Dance on My Grave' by Aidan Chambers. It stars Flix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin.
It was released in France on 14 July 2020 by Diaphana Distribution.
Plot
In the summer of 1985 in Normandy, Alexis (Alex), a 16-year-old who is haunted by death, goes out to sea. A thunderstorm forms, causing his boat to capsize, but he is rescued by David, who is eighteen years old. After this incident, they grow very close and Alexis ends up helping out at David's family shop. The two end up becoming more than friends and have a relationship in secret, however, David claims he is bored and had an affair with Alexis' friend. Alexis gets very angry and throws a rock at David. Luckily he dodges the rock, but Alexis wrecked the shop a little and ran out. David sits on a chair as his mother walks in and asks what is going on. We never end up getting much footage of this, but, we find out that David "went after" Alexis. Unfortunately, he ends up getting in a motorcycle crash and passing away, "joining his father." Alex, feeling guilty, decides to carry out the pact formed between them: to go and dance on the grave of the one who dies first. Alexis does get arrested however is pitied by the judge and only charged with 160 hours of community service and a strong recommendation to visit a psychiatrist.
Cast
* Flix Lefebvre as Alexis Robin
* Benjamin Voisin as David Gorman
* Philippine Velge as Kate
* Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as David's mother
* Melvil Poupaud as Lefvre
* Isabelle Nanty as Alexis's mother
* Laurent Fernandez as Alexis's father
* Aurore Broutin as a teacher
* Bruno Lochet as Bernard
* Yoann Zimmer as Luc
* Antoine Simoni as Chris
Production
In June 2019, it was announced that Flix Lefebvre, Benjamin Voisin and Philippine Velge had joined the cast of the film, with Franois Ozon directing from a screenplay he wrote. Principal photography began in May 2019.
Release
The film was set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2020, prior to its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was released in France on 14 July 2020. In September 2020, Music Box Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It screened at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2020. It was released in the United States on 18 June 2021.
Reception
Critical reception
'Summer of 85' holds approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on reviews, with an average of . The site's critical consensus reads, "While not Franois Ozon's best work, 'Summer of 85' serves as a beguiling, bittersweet ode to teen love and its lingering after-effects." On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 64 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".References
Buy Summer of 85 now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 2020