Directed by: Sylvia Le Fanu
Written by: Sylvia Le Fanu and Mads Lind Knudsen
Run Time: 1 hours 45 minutes
Only those who have lost a loved one to terminal illness know just how difficult and truly life-altering an experience it is. No matter what stage of life you find yourself at nothing can adequately prepare you for what’s to come, it’s so much for anyone to process. Heartbreakingly, in Sylvia Le Fanu’s feature debut, My Eternal Summer it’s from the perspective of a teenage girl which she explores it.
Spending the summer with her parents at their family holiday home by the Danish seaside, fifteen-year-old Fanny (Kaya Toft Loholt) is forced to come to terms with the steadily-declining health of her mother, Karin (Maria Rossing). If the situation wasn’t already apparent enough from Karin’s reduced mobility as she moves from the car to the front door, or Fanny bursting into tears while she unpacks, it becomes abundantly clear with the arrival of a hospital bed to their cosy summer retreat. What follows is a candid account of a teenager about to lose her mother.
It’s a devastating premise that the film doubles down on with its effective juxtaposition of Fanny’s adolescence and her mother’s fatal illness. While Fanny’s adult life is just starting, her mother’s is nearing its end. Navigating a relation having a terminal illness is horrible at any age, but trying to comprehend the end of a life when yours feels like it’s only really beginning is a cruelty no-one should have to endure. My Eternal Summer confronts this harsh truth, and the many others that come with such an awful situation, with remarkable authenticity.
It captures the change of pace that only such awful news brings. With Karin’s body gradually failing she has no choice but to quite literally slow down, but it’s the stillness that Le Fanu is able to create that’s most striking. In one scene the family picnic on a grassy cliffside and Karin looks out to the vast ocean. She almost blends into the horizon, and it’s here that the characters and audience align in quiet contemplation about what’s to come. There are potent moments like this littered throughout the film which, together, paint such a clear picture of what it’s really like to go through this ordeal.
Its cast does a fantastic job of portraying the endless range of emotion that inevitably emerges from such dreadful circumstances. Maria Rossing is stunning as Fanny’s mother. Her physicality throughout her performance is faultless, which much of the film’s success depends on. While she also vividly displays Karin’s fear and vulnerability, assisted by the raw and well-informed screenplay.
Her husband Johan (Anders Mossling) now fills the role of her primary carer, yet of the main trio he’s slightly sidelined. But remembering the story takes place from the perspective of Fanny, it makes perfect sense. As is to be expected father-daughter tensions are at times high, and while the script doesn’t specifically explore the reality of his new role, Anders Mossling’s unassuming performance subtly alludes to the complexity of it.
As Fanny, Kaya Toft Loholt is measured and mature. She strikes the balance of Fanny’s youthful naivety and genuine care assuredly, as she slowly starts to face the reality of her situation. Her leading performance gives the story an additional point of view, one that feels perfectly placed to carry its sincere message that there’s just no making sense of loss.
So with performances as true to life as these, it would take a miracle not to be moved by My Eternal Summer. As while not revolutionary in the presentation of its subject matter, it treats it – and its audience – with respect; showcasing its story with bravery and free from sentiment. It’s many things: sweet, abrupt, funny, painful but above all else, it’s honest – and for confronting its shattering subject matter with such truth, its impression is far greater.
Star Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
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