SwitzerlandBelgium
Summer 1976. A relentless heat-wave coupled with the worst drought in history hits Europe. Gus (13), vacations helping Dad on their farm, reading comic books and hanging with the village wild child. Cracks develop not only in the soil but in the family fabric: stressed-out Dad has invested his life savings in an automated henhouse and his mother is drifting away, mesmerized by friend Cecile. Gus witnesses the destruction of traditional family farming and the erosion of reassuring and familiar surroundings. He has to grow up fast, leaving the innocence of childhood behind. Delphine Lehericey directs an excellent Swiss-Belgian production adapted from Swiss author Roland Buti’s novel.