That homophobia results in teenage suicide is a dry fact, but My Summer of Love supplies a plot that vividly portrays how such a tragedy might occur. Directed by Pawel Pawlikowski and based on the novel by Helen Cross, the film focuses on love between middle class sixteen-year-old Tamsin (played by Emily Blunt) and slightly younger, working class Mona (played by Natalie Press), who meet one day by chance. Tamsin, riding horseback, encounters sunbathing Mona, and soon they share their frustrations about life and about men. Worldly wise Tamsin seduces naïve Mona, and they spend a lot of time together, including a dip in a pond and sunbathing on the hill near Mona's parent's manorial summer residence that overlooks the Yorkshire town of rowhouses where Mona lives with her ex-con, born-again brother Phil (played by Paddy Considine) in an apartment above the pub that the two siblings inherited from their parents. Using the pub for spiritual gatherings rather than alcohol and food, Phil decides to mobilize the townspeople by constructing a tall cross to be raised on top of the hill. Phil, however, does not approve of the growing liaison between the two girls. During the crossraising ceremony, he proclaims his faith, assumes spiritual leadership for the town, and calls attention to his sister's plight as a sinner. Undaunted, the relationship continues until one day Phil mouths evangelical platitudes, succumbs to Tamsin's seductive demeanor, forcibly grabs his sister from Mona's residence, and takes her home. When she packs her bags to leave, he locks her up in her room and then summons some of the faithful to pray. After Mona tries to commit suicide, Phil chases out those assembled in his house, calling them "fakers," and Mona quietly exits the house with her packed bag. Phil is emotionally defeated. However, when she arrives at Tamsin's residence, the latter's possessions are also being packed. Tamsin's sister is evidently doing the packing, and Tamsin, who presumably has been crying in response to an ultimatum of some sort, tells Mona that she is going back to boarding school. Mona, perhaps now homeless, retreats to the pond where the girls shared their first kiss. Soon, Tamsin joins her, but the climax is not a happy one. Although suicide is not portrayed at the conclusion of the film, filmviewers will be hard pressed to imagine an alternative ending.  MH

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My Summer of Love
by Helen Cross