Summer of 85

Not to be confused with Summer of 84.

Summer of 85 (French: Été 85) is a 2020 romantic drama film written and directed by François Ozon, partly based on the 1982 novel Dance on My Grave by Aidan Chambers. It stars Félix Lefebvre and Benjamin Voisin.

Summer of 85
Theatrical release poster
French	Été 85
Directed by	François Ozon
Screenplay by	François Ozon
Based on	Dance on My Grave by Aidan Chambers
Produced by	Éric Altmayer Nicolas Altmayer
Starring	Félix Lefebvre Benjamin Voisin Philippine Velge Valeria Bruni Tedeschi Melvil Poupaud Isabelle Nanty
Cinematography	Hichame Alaouié
Edited by	Laure Gardette
Music by	Jean-Benoît Dunckel
Production companies	Mandarin Films Scope Pictures Canal+ Playtime CNC OCS France 2 Cinéma
Distributed by	Diaphana Distribution
Release date	14 July 2020 (2020-7-14) (France)
Running time	100 minutes[1]
Countries	France Belgium
Language	French
Box office	$3.7 million[2][3]

It was released in France on 14 July 2020 by Diaphana Distribution.

Plot

In the summer of 1985 in Normandy, Alexis, a 16-year-old who is fascinated by death, goes out to sea. A thunderstorm forms, causing his boat to capsize, and he is rescued by 18-year-old David. The pair go to David's house, where Alexis meets his overbearing, single mother, and learns that David was forced to work at the family's fishery shop following his father's death. Alexis also adopts the name Alex, after David's mother mishears his name. David and Alex begin a romantic and sexual relationship over the course of 6 weeks. Alex has a tumultuous relationship with his parents, with his father insisting that he drop out of school to work, while Alex himself is passionate in writing. After an argument with his father, Alex starts to work at David's shop part-time while contemplating on whether to drop out.

Alex begins to grow suspicious of David after he rescues a drunk man from the middle of the street. The two have a fight as Alex believes David had an affair with him, due to him returning to his house at 4 in the morning. David has an affair with British tourist Kate, resulting in a fight between Alex and him, where David claims he is bored of the relationship. Alex wrecks the shop and runs out. David chases after Alex, but ends up dying in a motorcycle crash. 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. Alex gets arrested while doing so, but is pitied by the judge and only charged with 140 hours of community service and a strong recommendation to visit a psychiatrist.

The film alternates between scenes of the two boys' relationship before David's death, and scenes of the aftermath of the accident, in which Alex finds healing in writing his story for his trial on his literature teacher's recommendation. The film ends with Alex befriending the drunk man David rescued.

Cast

• Félix Lefebvre as Alexis Robin
• Benjamin Voisin as David Gorman
• Philippine Velge as Kate
• Valeria Bruni Tedeschi as David's mother
• Melvil Poupaud as Mr. Lefèvre
• Isabelle Nanty as Alexis's mother
• Laurent Fernandez as Alexis's father
• Aurore Broutin [fr] as the social worker
• Bruno Lochet as Bernard
• Yoann Zimmer [fr] as Luc
• Antoine Simoni as Chris

Production

In June 2019, it was announced that Félix Lefebvre, Benjamin Voisin and Philippine Velge had joined the cast of the film, with François Ozon directing from a screenplay he wrote.^[4] Principal photography began in May 2019 (from 27 May to 21 June).^[4][5]

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.^[6] It was released in France on 14 July 2020.^[7] In September 2020, Music Box Films acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film.^[8] It screened at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival on 13 September 2020.^[9] It was released in the United States on 18 June 2021.^[10][11]

Reception

Critical reception

Summer of 85 holds an 80% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 101 reviews, with an average of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "While not François Ozon's best work, Summer of 85 serves as a beguiling, bittersweet ode to teen love and its lingering after-effects."^[12] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 64 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[13]