Both Gemma Arterton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw enjoyed success on the London stage in the title role of playwright Jessica Swale's comedy about Restoration actress and royal mistress Nell Gwynn.
Their collaboration continues in Swale's first step into features as writer-director. But Summerland, while it's an original screenplay, has the feel of sentimental historical fiction, the kind of decorous novel that's a dime a dozen as Brit TV miniseries material.
For a story in which a potentially controversial mixed-race lesbian relationship plays a significant part, it's also surprisingly insipid.
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