Zwischen Sommer und Herbst Plot Review — Wavering Between Desire and Growth

There are clear turning points in a human life, much like the changing of seasons. Adulthood does not arrive suddenly one day; rather, there comes a moment of quiet redirection, situated between the familiar world and a future that has yet to arrive. The time in between is often turbulent. It is a period when it is difficult to be certain of one’s love, one’s choices, or even one’s own identity.

The film Zwischen Sommer und Herbst (2017) is a delicate record of this “time in between.” It captures the process of a young woman crossing the threshold of growth through her first love—not through dramatic incidents, but quietly, through silence, gazes, and small choices.

🌿 Moments when this film resonates deeply:

• For those who have fallen for someone but felt uncertain if those emotions were “correct.”
• For those who remember the moment of admitting their feelings being more frightening than the moment love began.
• For those who still carry someone in a corner of their heart long after a first love has ended.
• For those who wish to understand how love transforms an individual’s world.

Thus, this work is not merely a coming-of-age film; it is a narrative demonstrating how a first love rewrites the trajectory of a life.

🎞 Note Before Watching

This film is not driven by intense plot points. It is a quiet coming-of-age drama focusing on the subtle shifts in emotion and dynamics between characters, utilizing gaze and silence to convey relational tension.

Film Information

• Title: Between Summer and Fall (Zwischen Sommer und Herbst) (2017)
• Director: Daniel Manns
• Screenplay: Daniel Manns
• Country: Germany
• Genre: Drama, Romance
• Running Time: 101 minutes
• Platform: MUBI, etc.
• Cast: Linn Reusse, Isabel Thierauch

📖 Zwischen Sommer und Herbst Plot — A Fissure in Relations at the Threshold of Growth [No Spoilers]

Lena, a 17-year-old high achiever, is planning her future after just graduating high school. She is preparing for her driver’s license exam, an internship in Argentina, and university in France. While it is difficult to say she has fully become an adult, she stands precisely at the point of transitioning to the next stage of life.

One night in the family kitchen, Lena meets Eva, her brother Jonas’s girlfriend, for the first time. Eva, a 24-year-old social pedagogy student, naturally becomes close to Lena’s family, eventually becoming a fixture in their home akin to a family member.

Initially wary of Eva, Lena grows closer to her over time. As they practice driving together and Eva cares for a drunken Lena, a special intimacy forms between the two.

However, in an unexpected moment, their relationship faces an event that crosses the boundary of simple friendship. Following this, an inexplicable tension and emotional confusion begin to surface among the three individuals.

Just before Lena departs for her overseas internship, this relationship ultimately moves toward an inevitable moment of choice.

🎭 Zwischen Sommer und Herbst Interpretation — The Relational Fissure Created by First Love

The core of this film is not a simple love triangle. Rather, it is closer to a collision between “one experiencing love for the first time” and “one who fears love.”

Lena is a character who has yet to learn how to hide her emotions. To her, love represents future possibility. Conversely, for Eva, love is an emotion accompanied by anxiety and fear.

Having grown up in an unstable family environment, love for Eva was not synonymous with stability, but rather a relationship that could vanish at any moment. Consequently, while she feels a strong attraction to Lena, she simultaneously attempts to evade those feelings.

The tension of the relationship arises here: one person moves toward love, while the other fears it.

🌊 Symbolic Interpretation — The Time Between Summer and Fall

The film’s title, Between Summer and Fall, serves as an important symbol. Summer signifies freedom and possibility. Fall signifies responsibility and maturity. Lena currently stands between these two seasons.

• She has just graduated school.
• She is preparing to leave for a new country.
• She is experiencing her first love.

All these events illustrate her process of becoming an adult. In other words, this film is both a love story and a coming-of-age narrative. To Lena, Eva is not merely a lover but a gateway into the adult world.

🎬 Directional Interpretation — A Film Where Silence Speaks for Emotion

Director Daniel Manns utilizes a very restrained directorial style. The film focuses on small, everyday moments rather than dramatic events.

• The first meeting in front of the refrigerator.
• Learning to skateboard.
• Walking together without saying a word.

These scenes do not significantly impact the progression of the plot itself. However, these very moments are the core scenes that build the emotions between the characters.

Due to this directorial approach, the film’s pacing may feel somewhat slow. Yet, this allows the audience to feel the subtle changes in the relationship and the psychological flow more deeply.

🔎 Reinterpretation of the Ending — Love has not ended; the two have changed

The film concludes with the two meeting again two years later. Although they face each other after time has passed, they do not return to the same emotional state as before.

Lena has become a person living her own life, and Eva is no longer a person who runs away in fear of her emotions.

The importance here is not whether the two become a couple again. This reunion scene demonstrates one fact: First love is special not because it continues indefinitely, but because it changes us. This story is not about the completion of love, but the process of becoming a person capable of accepting love.

❓ Zwischen Sommer und Herbst Ending Interpretation — Why opinions are divided

Q. Why might some viewers find this film boring?

The primary reason is the near-absence of dramatic incidents. The film does not amplify conflict or develop provocatively. Instead, it calmly observes the emotional changes of the characters. Thus, for viewers expecting a plot-driven film, the work may feel slow or the development weak.

Q. Regarding criticism that the premise of falling in love with a brother’s girlfriend is immoral?

The work does not treat this premise as a provocative affair or a betrayal. Rather, the social taboo of the “brother’s girlfriend” serves as a device to test Lena’s true desires. Instead of applying a moral yardstick, the director highlights the irresistibility of emotions that humans cannot control, prompting the audience to reflect on the ethics of relationships themselves.

✨ Between Summer and Fall, it is always the “Stranger” who makes us grow

This film does not claim that love will save us. Instead, it shows how much love can confuse us, and how we become different people after passing through that confusion.

The story of two people meeting at the end of summer reminds us of the “aesthetics of waiting” and the “value of clumsiness” that our current society has lost. When we focus on the density of the process rather than the outcome of a relationship, we finally discover an expanded version of ourselves through the “other.”

True growth begins with the courage to abandon comfortable familiarity and hold the hand of a stranger.

🌊 On the Attitude of Facing a Fleeting Sincerity

Emotion is not a static state but is like the flowing seasons. Have you ever pondered deeply whether another’s silence is a rejection or a careful consideration toward you?

Sometimes, choosing to remain within an ambiguous silence rather than seeking a clear answer may bring one closer to the essence of a relationship.

📽 Violet Screen’s Recommendation: A Curation of Similar yet Distinct Female Narratives

• Princess Cyd (2017) – Dir. Stephen Cone: A story of a girl exploring her identity and desires while staying with her aunt during summer vacation. It deals with female solidarity and growth in a warmer, more open tone than Zwischen Sommer und Herbst.
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) – Dir. Desiree Akhavan: A coming-of-age story set in the 90s, recording the fierce struggle of girls trying to maintain their true selves within an oppressive environment. It is a work that prompts reflection on the essence of relationships.