Saga of Summerland war and (inner) peace

AFTER a muted reopening earlier this month, Friday was supposed to be the day when blockbusters returned to the cinemas.

But now that Disney’s Mulan has joined sci-fi Tenet in the weird hinterland of “indefinite postponement”, it looks like the comeback has been cancelled.

Thankfully this warm, witty and wonderfully wise World War Two drama proves cinema doesn’t begin and end in Hollywood.

In the early 2010s, former Bond girl Gemma Arterton was the queen of the blockbuster. But we’ve seen a lot less of her over the past few years as she has become more picky when it comes to scripts.

She’s chosen the perfect role here as cantankerous but soft-hearted academic Alice.

As she lives alone on the south coast of England and is researching pagan myths, the local children are convinced she’s a witch.

And when London evacuee Frank (an excellent Lucas Bond) turns up on her doorstep, you hope he packed a crucifix and holy water.

Alice tells the lad he’s not wanted.

But until Tom Courtenay’s headmaster can find him another family, the pair have to muddle along.

Weirdly, their relationship works. “Life isn’t kind, anguish is inevitable, what matters is how you deal with it,” Alice tells him when Frank receives bad news about his family.

It’s not in the Hollywood guide to parenting, but it isn’t bad advice.

Flashbacks suggest that Alice’s “anguish” is connected to Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s student, Vera.

Gradually, the big-hearted lad restores her faith in humanity.

The script, from playwright and director Jessica Swale, is beautifully written, but it’s Arterton who makes us root for her unlikely heroine.

Perhaps we can call it a comeback after all.