From NetFlix:

Sensing that death is close at hand, 75-year-old Hélène (Edith Scob) summons her three adult children to her home in the French countryside and tasks them with deciding the fate of her extraordinary art collection. This touching drama from internationally acclaimed writer-director Olivier Assayas stars Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling and Jérémie Renier as the three siblings forced to ponder their legacy and identity.

Finally a film that is suitable for everyone, although children may not appreciate the sadness of the situation.

Kathy and I saw the French film “Summer Hours” in the theatre. We loved it! The big screen makes all the difference in a film such as this. Sweet melancholy pervades the atmosphere as the inevitable passage of time forces a sequence of events. Two married brothers and their unmarried sister (a still beautiful but blond Juliette Binoche) truly love their mother and each other. Edith Scob seems just a little too stylish, healthy, sure-footed to be a 75 year old mother thinking of her death. In fact she dies early in the film. The camera follows the family’s every movement, at times seeming like a hand-held camera. If you are a francophile, you will fall in love with the old county estate and the artifacts therein. One brother will be living in China and almost certainly will never return to France. The sister will be living in the United States. The remaining brother is the most sentimental and dreads selling the estate and disposing of all the art works. Among so many details what moved me was the love between the siblings. None wanted to hurt the other or impose his or her own will. French estate taxes are horrendous, forcing the inevitable. Even the details (which child gets which painting, vase, etc.) are beautiful and important. What happens to the lifelong housekeeper ? One touching detail among many is that the sentimental son asks the housekeeper what things she would like to keep from the house as mementos. She says “Oh, there is that funny vase I always put flowers in, the vase with the bubbles on the outside.” That vase was a valuable artwork but the son gives it to the housekeeper without telling her its market value.

If you can get in the mood for a slow, moving, reflective film as only the French can produce, I urge you to see this film.