‘Last Summer’ Review: A Twisted Tale of Forbidden Love

Over the last couple of years, the erotic thriller genre has seen a massive resurgence. After peaking in the late 1990s with films like Eyes Wide Shut and Wild Things, it’s been a type of movie lost to time and audience evolution. But with films like Fair Play and Sanctuary, and now Last Summer, jump-starting a revival for the genre, it’s easy to see why the comeback of the pure erotic thriller is something to be excited about.

‘Last Summer’ Is Challenging, Upsetting, and Sexy

Catherine Breillat manages to unfold a provocative, complex film in Last Summer, a French film that culminates in more than just your run-of-the-mill erotic thriller through its moral qualms and unabashed views on how women should, and do, act within modern society. It’s reminiscent of Agnes Varda‘s Le Bonheur in its presentation of summer beauty — sunshine, frivolity, freedom — that acts as a gloss to shine over the darker and morally abject undercurrents that such warm allure begs to be taken advantage of. The film extends to a certain level of discomfort asking the viewer to join in an acceptance of the dark decisions being made.

Léa Drucker plays Anne, a mom, step-mom, lawyer, and lover of antiques. Anne, adorned from head to toe in her high heels and all-white slim dresses, manages to draw anybody’s gaze when she walks into a room. For her day job, she oversees children’s sexual assault and abuse cases, offering the victims an ability to relinquish autonomy in their life — sexual or otherwise as most of the young girls are nearing an age of independence — and pursue other freedoms.

When she is home, she dines with her husband Pierre (Olivier Rabourdin), a hard-working office businessman who enjoys living in their small cottage with their two adopted daughters around the age of 10. She also engages promiscuously with Pierre’s son (her stepson) Théo (Samuel Kircher).

Théo, a known troublemaker whose life is seemingly on the rocks in his early adulthood, returns to live with his father. Pierre, seeking to rekindle his relationship with his already emotionally distant son, is excited at the prospect of getting him to put his phone down and engage with his stepsisters. After a staged home robbery attempt by Théo, in which Anne is the only person who knows of his wrongdoings, sultry engagements begin to sizzle. Anne, a self-proclaimed gerontophile, takes the power dynamics between her and Théo to an unspoken place — the bedroom and beyond.

Catherine Breillat’s Erotic Thriller Doesn’t Shy Away From Mature Themes

Directly juxtaposing her career (and moral and sexual) interests, Anne is drawn to Théo like wine to a wine glass on a hot, French summer afternoon. What started as an innocent bonding experience between a motherly woman and a divisive teen soon evolves into swimming in the river together, making out, and, well, you can fill in the final one here.

The film sensationally extends its grasp to touch a multitude of controversial yet imperative themes such as feministic freedom, daunting life fears, and societal expectations of trust. With nearly no score to undermine the shadowy nature of each character, Last Summer fully succumbs to the extravagant and uncomfortable story that unfolds in just under two hours.

The film offers a self-aware tint with Théo commenting on how the sci-fi show he is watching on his phone in one scene is “awesome and French” while at the same time packing a power that deepens the dark thematic elements at constant play. Anne, constantly seeking to understand her plot in life, proposes what she calls her “vertigo theory” which is not the fear of falling but the fear of irrepressible temptation to fall, the latter of which she actively engages in with her forbidden relationship with Théo. Moments of reconciliation, like the aforementioned “vertigo theory,” weave a haunting tapestry of understanding the roles that trust and honesty play in a relationship, sexually explicit or not.

There is one particular instance, when things were dangerously close to being exposed, that made me outright pause the film and glare in awe of the frame constructed on the screen. Much like the cruelty and sensationalism of Anne and Théo’s relationship, the film justifies its presence with both eerie and gorgeous moments.

‘Last Summer’ Is One of the Best Films of the Year

Last Summer is a daunting picture painted with choices, both stained and pure of heart, that coalesce to make one of the best films of the year. The ever-evolving power dynamic that is explored with such ferocity is a masterclass in filmmaking. It has continued to riddle the caverns of my brain days after finishing it, simultaneously leaving me wanting more and being disturbed by what I had been a part of. Perhaps just as Anne had felt… or perhaps just as the movie intended.

Last Summer opens in Seattle on August 9. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for more entertainment news and reviews.