My Summer of Love is this summer's most intoxicating and intriguing romance. From Pawel Pawlikowski, the award-winning director of "Last Resort", comes a tale of obsession and deception, and the struggle for love and faith in a world where both seem impossible. The passionate, droll, and mysterious drama features striking performances from its two lead actresses, both of whom are movie newcomers. 

The film vibrantly charts the emotional and physical hothouse effects that bloom one summer for two young women (Natalie Press and Emily Blunt). Mona (played by Ms. Press), behind a spiky exterior, hides an untapped intelligence and a yearning for something beyond the emptiness of her daily life. Tamsin (Ms. Blunt) is well-educated, spoiled and cynical. As they are complete opposites, each is wary of the other's differences when they first meet, but this coolness soon melts into mutual fascination, amusement and attraction. Adding further volatility is Mona's older brother Phil (Paddy Considine), who has renounced his criminal past for religious fervor which he tries to impose upon his sister. Mona, however, is experiencing her own rapture. "We must never be parted," Tamsin intones to Mona but can Mona completely trust her? Special Features: * Four Interviews * Original Theatrical Trailer 

Accolades

Best Picture BAFTA Winner 2005.

Review

There's a tantalizing touch of irony in the title My Summer of Love, since this superbly-acted relationship drama reveals much more than love between its curiously fascinating characters. As directed by Polish-born Pawel Pawlikowski (a veteran of British TV documentaries whose previous film was the praiseworthy Last Resort), this unconventional love story is an engrossing exercise in mood and psychology, set in a bleak but invitingly sunlit village in Yorkshire. It's there that lonely, working-class teenager Mona (Nathalie Press) encounters rebellious rich-girl Tamsin (Emily Blunt), and their unlikely friendship grows intimate... but is it really love? Or is Tamsin (who was suspended from boarding school) merely indulging her clever penchant for emotional manipulation during a lazy summer of privilege? Mona's born-again Christian brother (Paddy Considine) factors into the film's languorous mood and complex emotional landscape; this is a film in which love and loss are inseparably intertwined, and motivations remain partially hidden, making it all the more powerful when guarded truths are revealed. In addition to being a compelling study of class distinctions, My Summer of Love includes scenes of anxious menace and some unexpected surprises, packing more into 84 minutes than most films manage in two hours or more. Pawlikowski was listed among "10 directors to watch" in a 2005 article in Variety, and My Summer of Love validates that acclaim. --Jeff Shannon