On the Other Side of Summer (Na druhé straně léta)

 

On the Other Side of Summer is a beautifully understated coming-of-age drama infused with elements of magical realism. The film follows fifteen-year-olds Bětka and Alma, two best friends spending a dreamy yet uneasy summer at a lakeside cottage under the watchful eye of Bětka’s older sister, Marie (age 26).

With Alma soon leaving for school abroad, the girls feel time slipping away and yearn for a summer to remember. Bětka dreams of attending a beach‑bar party across the lake, but Marie refuses to let them go alone. Their seemingly mundane attempts to sneak across water fail—until Alma meets Aneta, another girl living on the island at the lake's center. Intrigued, she follows and discovers a mysterious pool—a shimmering portal promising to transport a person anywhere in the world.

This mystical discovery reframes the entire summer. The pool becomes a symbol of longing—escape from routine, yearning for something more. The film doesn’t treat the portal like a Bond gadget, but as a metaphor for adolescent idealism and the fragile urge to believe in a place where we can belong.

Strakatý’s storytelling balances realism and metaphor. In the first two acts, the emotional lives of the girls unfold through quiet gestures: sharing whispered dreams, tiny acts of defiance, whispered fears. When the magical element arrives, it sparks curiosity and wonder—but also fractures reality. As the fantasy wavers—becoming confusing or disorienting in the final third—the emotional truth of the girls’ friendship remains intact and compelling.

Themes include the transitional tension of adolescence, the potency of female friendship, and the mythic pull of “somewhere else” when home no longer satisfies. Summer becomes both a season and a state of mind: energetic, stagnant, hopeful, and tinged with loss.

Visually, the film is shot in the poetic Czech countryside with still water surfaces that reflect both sky and interior worlds. Underwater POV shots punctuate the fantasy; long takes linger on expressionless faces as insects buzz and sunlit grass rustles. The score, combining ethereal folk textures with minimalist tone, echoes that inner sense of suspended time.

In the final scene, that portal may not deliver what the girls expected—but the journey grants them something more: clarity about who they are and what they carry forward beyond that summer. It’s a film about the grief of endings, the pull of possibility—and the curiosity to want to step into the unknown.

✅ Quick Summary

Element	Details
Title	On the Other Side of Summer (Na druhé straně léta)
Release	September 11, 2025 (Czech theatrical)
Genre	Mystery / Magical Realism / Coming‑of‑Age Drama
Theme	Friendship, escape, adolescence, longing
Mood	Poetic, contemplative, quietly mystical
Lead Stars	Lucie Fingerhutová, Nikola Kylarová, Sofie Anna Švehlíková
Studio	Czech–Croatian co‑production, supported by Czech Film Center & Aerofilms