''Three Summers'' is an Australian romantic

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, written and directed by

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bla ...

. It was filmed and is set in Western Australia, at a fictional summer music festival called 'Westival' (based on the real-life

Fairbridge Festival The Fairbridge Festival is a music festival held annually since 1993 at Fairbridge village near Pinjarra in Western Australia. The festival is held over a weekend in April. Visitors staying for the whole weekend can camp in the surrounding ...

). Over three consecutive years, two musicians (played by

Rebecca Breeds Rebecca Elizabeth Breeds (born 17 June 1987) is an Australian actress, known for her roles as Cassie Cometti in the third series of ''Blue Water High'', as series regular Ruby Buckton in the soap opera ''Home and Away,'' Aurora de Martel in '' ...

and

Robert Sheehan Robert Sheehan (born 7 January 1988) is an Irish actor. He is best known for television roles such as Nathan Young in ''Misfits'', Darren Treacy in '' Love/Hate'', and Klaus Hargreeves in ''The Umbrella Academy,'' as well as film roles such a ...

) meet and fall in love at the festival amidst a microcosm of Australian society. In addition to Breeds and Sheehan, the film has a large ensemble cast including

Magda Szubanski Magdalene Mary Therese Szubanski ( ; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian comedy actress, author, singer and LGBT rights advocate. She performed in ''Fast Forward'', '' Kath & Kim'' as Sharon Strzelecki and in the films ''Babe'' (1995) and ' ...

Michael Caton Michael Caton (born 21 July 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor, comedian and television host, best known for playing Uncle Harry in the Australian television series '' The Sullivans'', Darryl Kerrigan in 1997's low-budget h ...

Deborah Mailman Deborah Jane Mailman (born 14 July 1972) is an Australian television and film actress, and singer. Mailman played the character Kelly Lewis on the Australian television series ''The Secret Life of Us'' and Cherie Butterfield in the Australian c ...

Jacqueline McKenzie Jacqueline Susan McKenzie (born 24 October 1967) is an Australian film and stage actress. Early life Born in Sydney, New South Wales, McKenzie attended Wenona School in North Sydney until 1983 then moved to Pymble Ladies' College, where she ...

and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

. The film had its world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival on 12 August 2017, and was released nationally in Australia on 2 November.

Plot

The film's main plotline revolves around a blossoming romance between its two leads, pretentious theremin player Roland (

) and down-to-earth pub band fiddler Keevy (

) The film also has a subplot about a racist bigot (played by

) meeting a refugee boy and a group of indigenous folk dancers and learns the error of his ways. The film contains several running gags, revolving around feminist singer Diamond and her renditions of classic Australian songs and poems, two middle-aged couples who at first seem nice and clean but are actually swingers, a girl band trio vowing to stay together but then two of the three quit and a stern security guard who upholds the rules.

Cast

as Roland *

as Keevey *

as Eamon *

as Pam *

Kelton Pell Kelton Pell is an Aboriginal Australian (Noongar) stage, TV and film actor, best known for his role as the court liaison officer, Sam Wallan, in the SBS legal drama '' The Circuit'' set in north-western Australia. Pell is from Western Australia. ...

as Jack *

as Professor Wellborn *

as Queenie *

as Henry

Production

''Three Summers'' was filmed in the Peel region of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, Western Australia in 2016.

Reception

Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 54% of critics reviewed the film positively, with an average score of 4.6/10, based on 13 reviews. David Stratton of

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

wrote, "The film is worth seeing for Waters, giving a spirited portrayal of a loving father set in his ways and unable to see that times are changing, and Breeds as his lively, talented, worldly wise daughter." Conversely, Sandra Hall of the Sydney Morning Herald argued, "It's a relentlessly well-meaning film and when it's not proselytising, it's working very hard to manufacture enough laughs to make the whole mix palatable. However, the effort shows."

References

External links

* 2017 films Australian romantic comedy films Films set in Western Australia 2010s English-language films Films with screenplays by Ben Elton Films directed by Ben Elton 2017 romantic comedy films Screen Australia films Transmission Films films 2010s Australian films {{2010s-Australia-film-stub