Summer 04

15-year-old Nils invites his 12-year-old girlfriend Livia to spend the holidays with him and his mother and father at their summer home. One day whilst sailing, Nils returns home without Livia, much to his families shock. Silvia returns home later that day, with Bill, a much older man who took her sailing. When the brazenly sensual Livia begins flirting with Bill, Miriam (Nils’ mother) feels it is her responsibility to stop the questionable relationship. But as she does so, it is she herself who falls for the shy and charmingly insecure Bill. Miriam forges ahead, seducing him, seeing him secretly. But it is Livia that Bill loves, not Miriam. And suddenly the vast horizons of her life vanish in a fog of jealousy and rejection – emotions that prove to be far less controllable than she thought. This is a beautifully shot German film, with a simple yet unpredictable and mesmerising screenplay. Once you start watching, you can’t look away.