15 Summers Later

A couple are relaxing on a quiet beach. A stranger passes by. But is he a stranger? He seems to know the woman. He asks her about how her life is going, what she does for a living; they exchange pleasantries. And then he recounts a moment in their lives, 15 years ago, that felt very different to each of them. She hardly remembers. He is ready to begin an emotional conflict over it, even now.

It could be the set-up for a disturbing thriller. Instead, 15 Summers Later plays out as a delicately balanced observational comedy, playing up the awkwardness of encounters at a distance. The camera is distant too, peering steadily like a voyeur perched behind rocks.

Yet the emotional distance our heroine tries carefully to maintain, caught in the mesh of her own politeness, is punctured by the stranger's determination to make a scene she won't forget. He's clearly nuts, and yet we feel for him. His adolescent awkwardness is easy to relate to; the grudge he still holds, comically less so.

This is a thoughtful little film that maintains its dry wit even in the most ludicrous circumstances. A charming little vignette worth keeping in mind.