Laura, 14, and Josephine, 18, divide their summer between their separated parents. They spend July in the south with their mother, in the house of their stepfather, enjoying the sun and the beach. And August in Brittany with their father, who lives alone in a village. As they watch problems of their parents unfold and discover the surprises of adult life, Josephine and Laura experience their own adventures, from first love to first youthful mistakes.

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Barely a year after French Blood, a violent drama about the life of a skinhead, director Diastème shifts gears with this bittersweet story of two sisters. Alma Jodorowsky and especially Luna Lou lend July-August a beautiful, funny and sensitive energy, with a storyline that offers moments both expected and necessary in a film about adolescence and the transition to adulthood. But Diastème’s third movie rarely manages to thrive: despite its attempt to be an ensemble picture with a large cast of important secondary roles, July-August barely manages more than a story worthy of a summer TV movie. Nothing very remarkable or memorable.