Nine-year-old Sophia (Emily Matthews), with her father (Anders Danielsen Lie) and grandmother (Glenn Close), spends her summers at their home on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland. But there is a glaring vacuum in the family, the absence of Sophia's mother. The trio talk about life, nature and everything else but their feelings about losing her. McDowell's unassuming and calm adaptation of Moomin creator Tove Jansson's beloved novel is made lustrous by Close's admirable subtlety and Danielsen Lie's vital and welcomed taciturnity.