Summer of 85 (2020) is a tender, melancholic coming-of-age romance that navigates the turbulent waters of first love, death, and memory. Adapted from Aidan Chambers’ novel Dance on My Grave, François Ozon’s film is set in a sun-soaked Normandy seaside town, capturing the bittersweet essence of adolescent passion in the mid-1980s.
The story follows 16-year-old Alexis (Félix Lefebvre), a dreamy, literature-loving teen who is saved from a capsized boat by David (Benjamin Voisin), an older, charismatic stranger. The two quickly fall into an intense and all-consuming summer romance, full of youthful fervor and longing. But their bond is laced with an eerie sense of foreboding, as Alexis tells the story in retrospect, hinting at tragedy from the start.
Ozon weaves themes of obsession, grief, and the fleeting nature of youth with a poetic sensibility. His choice to tell the story through fragmented flashbacks gives the film a novelistic feel, while the 80s setting, accompanied by a nostalgic soundtrack (notably The Cure’s “In Between Days”), adds emotional texture. Lefebvre delivers a poignant performance as a boy caught between fantasy and harsh reality, while Voisin embodies the reckless allure of David with charm and mystery.
Though the film leans into melodrama at times, it’s anchored by an emotional honesty that resonates. Ozon doesn’t idealize young love; instead, he shows its capacity to transform, wound, and shape who we become.
Summer of 85 is a wistful, beautifully shot meditation on love’s impermanence and the pain of remembrance. It’s a story as fragile and haunting as a summer breeze, lingering in the heart long after the season ends.
