AllMovie

Two couples find their attitudes about themselves and one another are challenged in this drama from veteran French auteur Philippe Garrel. Frederic (Louis Garrel) is an artist who is married to Angele (Monica Bellucci), a successful actress. Frederic strikes up a close friendship with Paul (Jerome Robart), an actor who gets by playing bit parts and filling out crowd scenes. When a film project takes Angele to Italy, she and Frederic invite Paul to join them, and he brings along his new girlfriend, a fellow bit player named Elisabeth (Celine Sallette). As Frederic and Paul spend more time together, Angele bonds with Elisabeth, but while the men are content to talk about simple things, the women find themselves discussing issues in their relationships, including jealousy, anger and temptation. In time, the women's dissatisfaction leads them to consider other partners, turning their relationships upside down. Un été brûlant received its North American premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.