May in the Summer

While May in the Summer paints a compelling family portrait, May remains a largely opaque character, so the film doesn't totally deliver as a tale of her self-discovery.

Dabis's character comes off as a self-serving fantasy.

Dabis covers a lot of ground as a storyteller while delivering a smart, focused performance.

Plays as if it's quite undecided about whether it wants to be a socially aware comedy of cultural clashes or, unfortunately, a murky melodrama that pulls out all the subtle stops when it decides to stop spinning.