Three Summers

Directed by Sandra Kogut, Three Summers details the low-key exploits of a Brazilian housekeeper (Regina Casé’s Madá) over the course of a three-year period. Filmmaker Kogut, working from a script written with Iana Cossoy Paro, delivers an exceedingly deliberate and often egregiously uneventful narrative that admittedly does feel authentic, at least, and yet there’s never a point at which Madá is able to become the wholeheartedly compelling protagonist Kogut has surely intended – which is a shame, really, given that Casé turns in an impressively nuanced performance that remains an ongoing highlight. It’s clear, then, that Three Summers‘ downfall is due mostly to its lack of an entry point or hook for the viewer, as the picture’s first section revolves almost entirely around a house party and Madá’s efforts at keeping things running smoothly. And although a certain development in the second act injects the proceedings with much-needed drama, Three Summers progresses into a final stretch that is, like everything else here, somewhat interesting yet far from engrossing – with the big emotional climax, as a result, unable to pack the heart-wrenching punch one might’ve anticipated.

** out of ****