Summer Hours
In a small town, Hélène is a family matriarch who has devoted her life to preserving the legacy of her artist uncle. However, while her eldest son, Frédéric, wants to preserve her home after her passing, she harbors no such illusions as she prepares her legacy. After her death, her children realize what she anticipated as they come to terms with their inheritance's place in their own lives. In the resulting disposition of their mother's assets, treasured heirlooms of a romantic family past drift away even as their changing modern world confronts the value of their memories.
The film earned $7.5M at the global box office.
8 wins & 23 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Summer Hours (2008) exemplifies strategically placed story structure, characteristic of Olivier Assayas's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 43 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.7, the film showcases strong structural fundamentals.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Hélène's 75th birthday celebration at the family country house. Three generations gather amid the art collection and furnishings that represent family heritage and continuity.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when Hélène dies. The event that disrupts the family equilibrium and forces the siblings to confront decisions about their inheritance and diverging lives.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 26 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 26% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to The siblings formally decide to sell the house and disperse the collection. Frédéric reluctantly accepts that his brother and sister won't maintain the family estate. The old world cannot continue., moving from reaction to action.
At 52 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat The Musée d'Orsay curators arrive to acquire major pieces. What was private becomes public. False defeat: the collection will be preserved, but not in the way Frédéric hoped—institutionalized, not lived with. The personal becomes historical., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 76 minutes (73% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Frédéric walks through the emptied house one final time before it's sold. The rooms are bare, echoing. The death of the family home and all it represented—continuity, rootedness, shared history. What was lived-in is now just architecture., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 82 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Time jump: Sylvie and the younger generation gather at the now-sold house for a final party. They have permission from the new owners. The shift: the young will create their own memories, their own meanings., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Summer Hours's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs systematic plot point analysis that identifies crucial turning points. By mapping Summer Hours against these established plot points, we can identify how Olivier Assayas utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Summer Hours within the drama genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Hélène's 75th birthday celebration at the family country house. Three generations gather amid the art collection and furnishings that represent family heritage and continuity.
Theme
Hélène tells Frédéric: "After I'm gone, you won't want to hold on to all this." The theme of inheritance, memory, and what we preserve versus what we let go is stated.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of the Marly family: Frédéric (eldest, lives in France), Adrienne (lives in New York), Jérémie (moving to China). The house contains valuable art from their great-uncle Paul Berthier. Hélène discusses her will and the future of the collection.
Disruption
Hélène dies. The event that disrupts the family equilibrium and forces the siblings to confront decisions about their inheritance and diverging lives.
Resistance
The siblings reunite for the funeral and begin discussing what to do with the house and collection. Frédéric wants to keep everything intact; Adrienne and Jérémie are hesitant, their lives are elsewhere. Initial debate about preservation versus practicality.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
The siblings formally decide to sell the house and disperse the collection. Frédéric reluctantly accepts that his brother and sister won't maintain the family estate. The old world cannot continue.
Mirror World
Frédéric's teenage daughter Sylvie represents the next generation. Her relationship to the house and objects is casual, unsentimentaI—she sees them as things, not sacred memories. She mirrors the thematic question about what deserves to be kept.
Premise
The process of dismantling: appraisers evaluate the collection, museums acquire pieces, personal items are distributed. Each object has a story; each decision is a small goodbye. The siblings navigate memories and practical realities.
Midpoint
The Musée d'Orsay curators arrive to acquire major pieces. What was private becomes public. False defeat: the collection will be preserved, but not in the way Frédéric hoped—institutionalized, not lived with. The personal becomes historical.
Opposition
The final dispersal accelerates. Furniture is sold at auction, the house is prepared for sale. Frédéric struggles with each loss. The siblings' global lives pull them further apart—Adrienne with her New York career, Jérémie preparing for China.
Collapse
Frédéric walks through the emptied house one final time before it's sold. The rooms are bare, echoing. The death of the family home and all it represented—continuity, rootedness, shared history. What was lived-in is now just architecture.
Crisis
Frédéric grieves not just the house but an entire way of life. The siblings part ways, returning to their separate continents. The question lingers: what, if anything, remains of family when the physical anchors are gone?
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Time jump: Sylvie and the younger generation gather at the now-sold house for a final party. They have permission from the new owners. The shift: the young will create their own memories, their own meanings.
Synthesis
The teenagers party in the house and grounds, unaware of the historical weight. They use the space freely, joyfully. Meanwhile, Frédéric visits the Musée d'Orsay and sees his mother's objects behind glass—preserved but transformed. Two forms of continuity.
Transformation
Sylvie wakes up in the grass of the estate, sunlight filtering through trees. The house still stands, nature continues, life renews. The final image mirrors the opening celebration but shows: inheritance isn't about preserving objects, but about living fully in one's own time.