In summer 1966, young Elise expects to wile away her days until the next school year laughing with her friends and basking in her freedom. But Elise’s summer is not destined to be so. When her mother suddenly abandons the family for London, she takes it upon herself to take the reins and hold it together. As she discovers the half-truths and sorrow hovering over her father and brothers, Elise makes a headlong rush into adolescence. Vivid illustration of the turbulent time of preadolescence marks Mommy Is at the Hairdresser’s as very much a Lea Pool film: The literal and figurative loss of a parent and the search for love and stability are present themes once again. Recalling Pool’s own Emporte-moi, Pool demonstrates a sure hand in recreating time and place, and the slow, deliberate portrait of Elise’s life is founded in a respectful nostalgia.