I’m not sure I completely understood Miguel Llanso’s third feature, Infinite Summer, or if there is anything really to understand. Another Estonian Spanish co-production filmed in Tallinn, perhaps the solution lies in one of the final lines spoken in the film: “Of all the animals in the zoo, humans are the saddest.” As with Crumbs and Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway, the protagonist – Teele Kaijuvee-O’Brock’s Mia – has a riddle to solve and a seemingly intangible obstacle in her way, but Mia is also quite content to let things play out before her as her summer break with friend Grete (Johanna Aurelia Rosin) – with whom she seems to have little in common – very slowly spirals out of control. But who is the catalyst for the change? World-wise and world-weary Canadian girl Sarah or creepy cyber-dealer Igor?
This is Jodorowsky via Baumbach, with a touch of Dick. Futuristic dating technology, individually tailored pharmaceutical mindfulness, and a zoo AI that tunes each animal’s environment to its specific needs all come together to move the story along, although – as with Llanso’s previous films – the journey is every bit as important as the destination. For some, that destination may prove unsatisfactory, but it’s entirely possible that they’re looking for something that was never there to begin with. Because, as a meditation on the point and purpose of existence – and as a contrast with those from previous generations who glimpsed but didn’t quite grasp what was behind the curtain, as illustrated by Mia’s father – it might just be that there’s no point to it at all. That’s quite a thing to capture in 86 diverting minutes, but Llanso is proving a master of setting and exceeding high expectations.