L'été nucléaire

No pun intended - the movie is quite clear what it is. It also is quite ... well open, when it comes to Radiation ... something the movie gives us quite a bit off. It also is about a group of people - and the viewer is getting into the skin of them (another pun you say?) ... and you will be telling them what to do ... actually even think what would I do ... not that easy to answer! Especially considering the circumstances.

Things you can't see ... well they are the worst, because you have no clue if there is any danger or rather how big that danger is ... is there enough time to be safe? Is it difficult and where will it all lead ...

Filmed in 2019 , in its own way,the film ,unwittingly anticipated the immediate future :replace the nuclear threat by the covid epidemic and these people are locked down ,waiting for ministerial /prefectoral directives on their TV .

The main quality of this movie is to avoid the usual clichés: no computerized special effects, ,no stereotyped characters , no panic-stricken crowds ; it's similar , in its form ,to "malevil" (1981) : the ending of both movies is virtually the same .

"Eté nucleaire " is more realistic, with splendid panoramics: compare the luminous country where one of the characters is jogging with the thretening gloomy landscapes of the finale ;the main problem is the dialog : it never rises above the small talk , and what can be worse than the nuclear threat, when your life has just begun.?Too young to have known the events of Tchernobyl (1986) ,these youngsters are not totally clueless: they use a Geiger counter ; the last lines are radiation exposure rates .

Watch it anyway : it's definitely off the beaten track .