This is one of those quiet British movies that turns out to be a good story. Gemma Arterton plays a reclusive author who everyone in her village hates. The children all believe she's a witch because of her behavior and she encourages them. It's early WW II and she finds her life turned upside down when a young evacuee suddenly shows up at her door and she's expected to take him in. As they develop a relationship, she tells him about her research into pagan lore and their belief in a place called "The Summerland," an afterlife that exists all around humans, who can sometimes see their lost loved ones there. Through flashbacks you learn that Arterton's distance from other people is caused by a failed relationship years before with another woman, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Dealing with the boy helps Arterton to heal until a crisis occurs that challenges them both, but in different ways.
Everything ties up very nicely at the end combining the themes of love, loss and forgiveness. It's the kind of movie the British seem to be very good at presenting.
Everything ties up very nicely at the end combining the themes of love, loss and forgiveness. It's the kind of movie the British seem to be very good at presenting.
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