My Summer in Provence

Three siblings are sent to spend a summer in Provence with a grandfather they have never met. The old man is difficult, the house runs on rules, and the rhythm of the countryside does not suit city children. As the summer goes on, the reason the family broke apart years ago comes out. The film is not interested in landscape. It is interested in the cost of estrangement: the rift between the grandfather and his daughter was kept from the grandchildren, and they work it out for themselves. The form is the seasonal family picture: sunlit photography, meals, and an old man who slowly softens. Provence here is close to a separate character. Roselyne Bosch wrote and directed. She had previously made La Rafle, about the 1942 Vel d'Hiv round-up in France; this is at the opposite end, light and conciliatory. Jean Reno plays the grandfather. Who it is for: viewers who like family films, the French countryside and stories of generational conflict. Who it is not for: anyone expecting surprises. The film is predictable and every character softens exactly where you expect.