Summer Hours
Summer Hours Image
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Metascore
84 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 27 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 30 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: The divergent paths of three forty-something siblings collide when their mother, heiress to her uncle's exceptional 19th century art collection, dies suddenly. Left to come to terms with themselves and their differences, Adrienne, a successful New York designer, Frederic, an economist and university professor in Paris, and Jeremie, a dynamic businessman in China, confront the end of childhood, their shared memories, background and unique vision of the future. (IFC films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    100
    It all comes together as formidably detailed and easy-breathing craftsmanship.
  2. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Stephen Cole
    100
    It is filmmaker Assayas who is the star here. France's most important contemporary director has created a work of almost magisterial calm.
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Bennett
    80
    Assayas makes the point that objects of fascination and affection to one generation may be far less so to the next. And he observes the role that people-friendly museums can play in keeping a nation's treasures safe with pleasing subtlety.
  4. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    50
    Even for a French drama, Summer Hours is so slow as to be practically still.

See all 27 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 18
  3. Negative: 6 out of 18
  1. [Anonymous]
    10
    Excellent film! My only minor complaint was I would have liked to see a little more screen time for Juliette Binoche, but this is minor.
  2. KenK
    10
    Very engaging with a great aftertaste of having a wonderful glimpse into the lives of three generations. Life moves on for each generation.
  3. roberti
    7
    Structurally, a 19th century tale, updated for 21st century sensibilities. Essentially sentimental, but capturing the angst of families in the throes of global dispersal, Summer Hours coalesces around an earlier generation's obsessions with "stuff"--the material remnants of shared memories. A well-told tale, rings true to life.… Expand
  4. kaltj
    2
    A deeply boring, interminably long exercise in naval gazing which somehow expects to be redeemed to American audiences by being shot in France (ooh, it's pretty!) and in French (ooh, it's foreign!). Overwrought, yawning meditations on globalization aside, you'll forgive me if i can't just bring myself to care about a movie in which the central conflict is whether the lead can bear the incredible emotional toll of selling his mother's armoire. This isn't a film, it's a craigslist post.… Expand

See all 18 User Reviews

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