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‘Endless Summer Syndrome’ Review: A Shocking Allegation Disturbs a Family Holiday in a Disquieting French Debut
Kaveh Daneshmand's debut feature centers on a placid family vacation gone awry, with a dark secret at the center.
Awash in bright sunny images and careening toward a dark, knotted ending, Daneshmand’s family drama makes for an increasingly disquieting watch, the unseemly secret at its center as poisonous as the pet snail which serves as a waiting Chekhov’s gun. The human rights activist, who finds time during her summer holiday to take part in important Zoom town halls on the primacy of family values, has been happily married for decades to Antoine (Mathéo Capelli), a successful novelist. But it’s all in the service of a lurid tale that, because of its insularity (we rarely leave the country house the film is set at) wants to remain singular but which, given the central character’s ambitions (she’s a human rights advocate, after all) cannot help but ripple outward in decidedly uncomfortable ways.
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