The Greengage Summer

With their mother ill and rushed to the hospital, Joss, a 16-year-old English girl, must care for her three younger siblings. The family travels to the Hotel Oeillets in France for a summer holiday that suddenly becomes a test of responsibility. Joss's protective instincts set the tone for the days ahead.

Mademoiselle Zisi is reluctant to take on unchaperoned children, but Eliot persuades her to accept them. The arrangement drags the siblings into the hotel's social circle and foreshadows coming tensions. The hotel becomes a charged setting for their summer.

Paul, a hotel employee, grows suspicious of Eliot and snoops in his room, where he discovers a pistol. Eliot catches him and convinces Zisi to fire Paul, removing a potential threat to his plans. The petty power struggle at the hotel heightens the sense of danger.

Hester, Joss's 13-year-old sister, takes a liking to Paul and begs Joss to get Eliot to reconsider his stance toward him. Joss persuades Eliot to back down from his earlier stance, at least temporarily, in deference to her sister's plea. The dynamic tightens the emotional stakes around the adults' decisions.

Eliot becomes furious when Hester photographs him, exposing the tension under the surface. He bolts from a tour of caves where champagne is stored to avoid the famous policeman Renard. He also insists on turning away potential guests, underscoring his volatile mood.

Zisi throws a glass of champagne at a rival guest, triggering a tense chase. Eliot pursues her and, in earshot of Joss, declares that Zisi is still a child in his eyes. The confrontation underscores how far the situation has spiraled.

A newspaper article reveals Eliot as a notorious jewel thief. Enraged, Joss mails Hester's photo of Eliot to the police, signaling the end of Eliot's concealed presence at the hotel. The decision marks a turning point toward pursuit and exposure.

Eliot decides to leave and sneaks out late at night. Paul, drunk, attacks Joss in her bedroom on the second floor, prompting Eliot to rush upstairs. He punches Paul as Paul tries to climb down a drainpipe; the pipe breaks and Paul dies.

Eliot tells everyone not to call the police, attempting to contain the situation. Joss confesses that she has denounced him to the police, and Eliot responds with a grown-up kiss. Then he disposes of Paul's body and disappears.

Eliot quietly disposes of Paul's body and disappears into the night. The hotel is left in unsettled silence as the consequences of the night's events begin to sink in.

The next morning, Inspector Renard questions the uncooperative children while their solicitor uncle, Mr Bullock, arrives after an unsigned telegram to extricate them. The tension at the hotel intensifies as authorities close in on the truth. The children become passive pieces in a larger pursuit.

Renard explains that Eliot is trying to escape across the border to Germany on a river barge, and that Eliot is now suspected of murdering Paul. The reality of pursuit sharpens the sense of peril around Joss and Hester. The hotel becomes a staging ground for a looming manhunt.

Joss states that Paul died in an accident while trying to escape from her room, not murder, but authorities press on toward Eliot as he makes a bid for the river barge. The discord between perception and truth drives the plot toward a final confrontation. The siblings' loyalties are tested as the net tightens.

Hester breaks down in tears and is consoled by her uncle, while Joss walks away alone down a country lane, distraught at the uncertain fate of Eliot. The personal toll of the pursuit becomes clear for the children left behind. The ending hints at unresolved futures.

Eliot has vanished, and Joss remains solitary as she traverses the countryside. The film closes with the sense that justice, escape, and family loyalties are left unresolved. The summer at Hotel Oeillets ends with an open-ended fate for all involved.