Last Summer

During a sun drenched French summer, a teenage boy who has spent years with his mother in the city travels to live with his father’s clan. The move unsettles the household, especially the poised but wary stepmother who now shares the house with him. What follows is a slow simmer of miscommunications and unspoken resentments as two generations collide, expectations clash, and a quiet truth about loyalty and belonging surfaces. Breillat keeps the focus intimate, letting the tension build through restrained conversations and glances rather than loud confrontations. The result is a drama that examines power, family, and the uneasy balance between old rules and new freedoms. The film avoids neat resolutions, letting the consequences unfold with patient ambiguity today.

Directed by Catherine Breillat, Last Summer unfolds from a screenplay credited to May el-Toukhy, Maren Louise Käehne and Pascal Bonitzer. The film arrives in 2023 as an intimate drama anchored by strong performances and precise, restrained direction that lingers there.

Critics respond to its quiet intensity and its patient gaze on power within a family. The story centers on the boy and the stepmother and uses restraint over melodrama, letting silences and glances carry weight. The performances of Léa Drucker and Samuel Kircher anchor the film's unsettling mood for viewers.

Box office numbers place Last Summer at about 1,022,551 dollars worldwide, reflecting a modest release and a niche reception rather than a wide commercial push. Its performance aligns with art house circuits focusing on mood over mass appeal in Europe.

At present the film has not sparked notable pop culture moments, but it adds to Catherine Breillat's ongoing exploration of power and desire in intimate spaces. It signals a measured shift in her approach toward character driven realism and has the hallmarks of a slow burner among critics alike today.