From whatever angle you approach it, there is no question that The Summer House makes for very uncomfortable viewing. The story of well-to do middle class Swedish family with a very comfortable life style that at very first glance seem like they should be as happy as Larry. Markus Larsen (Sten Jacobs) is a partner in a firm of architects, and he and his wife Christine (Anne Altmann) have a 12 year daughter Elizabeth (Nina Splettstößer). However Markus has a secret that he makes sure to keep from everyone, and it is that he regularly sneaks off to have sex with young men. On one occasion he actually leaves Elizabeth waiting in the car whilst he pops into a nearby apartment building for a very speedy ‘liaison.’
Then one day when the family are taking care of his business partner’s 14 year old son Johannes (Jasper Fuld), who has ostensibly come to hang out with Elizabeth, Markus takes a marked shine to the boy, and surreptitiously arranges to meet up with him on his own at the family’s Summer House. Suddenly this man who is so cold and distant with his family, and also very calculating with his friends, now becomes scarily charming as he literally woes the young boy on his several visits to the secluded gazebo.
Even though he is so young, Johannes is not totally innocent and is quite aware of his own burgeoning sexuality and he soon learns to manipulate Magnus who is desperate to see how far he can go with him.
Meanwhile a totally unsuspecting Christine is getting even more frustrated with Markus as now the very little physical affection that she once got from him has totally disappeared. As she melodramatically takes her anger out on him, Elizabeth sits quietly as a spectator as if she actually has some sort of inking what her father is up too.
It is always obvious that this will never end well for any of the parties, and writer/director Curtis Burz adds a not-totally-unexpected thriller element into the plot just near the finish line. If you can get beyond the unpleasant and unacceptable subject matter of the movie, then the acting is particularly good as they portray their characters with a great deal of sympathy that somehow elevates the whole piece to make it a compelling watch to the end.
The movie is currently available to view via Amazon Prime
