A Summer Tale

Gaspard, a math graduate turned musician, escapes the bustle of life by the seaside town of Dinard, spending a sunlit summer mostly alone in his friend’s empty flat. He fills his days with quiet work—crafting melodies, tracing blues through his guitar, and wandering the familiar streets as the tide rolls in. Though he starts with some reluctance, a chance meeting with Margot, a warm and cheerful waitress who also moonlights as an ethnology researcher, gently shifts the rhythm of his days. Margot’s spare time is filled with interviews of local Bretons, collecting maritime folklore and songs, and she brings a fresh, thoughtful perspective to Gaspard’s world. Despite a tense, on‑again/off‑again dynamic with his girlfriend Léna, who plans to visit Dinard, Gaspard remains drawn to Margot’s calm confidence and easy laughter.

From their first real conversation, Margot offers a mirror to Gaspard’s uncertainties. She speaks with a researcher’s curiosity about tradition and memory, and through her eyes he begins to see how his own life might be more carefully steered. The two spend moments together that feel almost improvisational—the way they walk the shoreline, discuss the stories of old fishermen, and listen to the wind carry phrases from the sea. It is on a journey with Margot, visiting a local fisherman’s home to talk about maritime folk songs, that Gaspard finds a spark of inspiration: he writes his own sea shanty, a break from the blues that has long shaped his musical identity. The moment feels like a turning point, a signal that his art might be nourished by the sea’s deep currents as much as by his own restless heart.

One night, Margot’s circle heads to a bar for dancing, where Gaspard feels out of place among strangers and music. Yet Solène, one of Margot’s friends who exudes sensuality and confidence, notices him. She invites him to sail on her uncle’s boat, tapping into a new, adventurous side of him, and he responds by sharing his growing sea-shanty with her. Solène’s presence, coupled with her recent heartbreaks, makes her open to the possibility of something definite—something Gaspard, who has often drifted, finds reassuring. The prospect of a voyage to Ouessant, an island off Brittany’s tip, becomes a tangible plan for the week ahead, and the idea glows with promise.

Then, almost by chance, Léna reappears on the beach with a renewed interest that delights Gaspard after her prior chilly distance. He finds himself tempted to abandon the trip with Solène for the chance to rekindle what he has with Léna, even as his growing bond with Margot pulls him in another direction. Margot becomes part of his internal debate, challenging his tendencies to chase whichever option is closest to his current mood. The tension culminates in a fateful moment when Gaspard’s inability to choose leads him toward a dangerous double-booking: he finds himself torn between Léna, Solène, and Margot, all at once, all clamoring for his time and attention.

Léna’s mood swings culminate in a sharp confession that she isn’t in love, followed by a stormy departure. For a heartbeat, it seems as if Solène might be the only viable option left, but a walk with Margot yields a different truth—a kiss that finally feels honest. Yet the allure of freedom and options persists. Gaspard, harrowed by the pressure, tells Margot that he wants to travel to Ouessant with her, sensing that their relationship is built on a truer sense of care. In a twist of timing, Léna calls to re‑ignite her place in his plans, and Solène phones to confirm the trip as well, leaving him with a tangled, almost unbearable decision.

Just as the situation reaches a breaking point, a practical distraction arrives: a friend phones with a tempting offer to buy recording equipment in La Rochelle. It’s an opportunity he cannot refuse, and Gaspard chooses distance over confrontation, deciding to leave town rather than face the inevitable reckoning with his three potential partners. He tells Margot he will meet her at the ferry to Saint Malo, hoping to explain and perhaps salvage something, but the truth is more elusive than words. Margot, however, reveals that her own boyfriend is returning soon, and that she and Gaspard will go to Ouessant—though the timing remains uncertain. Their conversation ends with a shared, almost hopeful plan that feels fragile and provisional.

As the ferry pulls away, Gaspard and Margot exchange a final, unresolved kiss, a quiet acknowledgment of what could have been. Margot waves farewell, and she walks away while Gaspard’s boat speeds toward the horizon. On deck, the familiar sea‑shanty Santiano swells, echoing the film’s mood: a blend of longing, possibility, and the irreversible pull of the sea. The film leaves us with the sense that Gaspard’s journey isn’t over, but the path ahead remains unsettled, defined by a choice he has yet to make and by the coast’s enduring invitation to seek something truer in life and in love.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:38