Gemma Arterton cuts a formidable figure in writer/director Jessica Swale’s Summerland. Miscast as imposing aristocrat Vita Sackville-West in 2019’s Vita & Virginia, Arterton hits her stride here as Alice, a grouchy, misanthropic English writer who just wants to be left alone to pace the rugged coast of Kent to pursues her eccentric research studies into myths and folklore. This solo flyer is the object of mockery and suspicion in her small World War II–era village. An untidy mane of hair and dowdy clothes attest to Alice’s indifference to public opinion, and Arterton’s lean, sensitive face hints at past regrets and amusement at life’s absurdities. Is the film setting up an unusual character study to intrigue us?

Yes and no. Events soon conspire to upend the writer’s stubbornly unconventional and solitary existence, and in a fairly predictable way. The town council has foisted a boy evacuated from blitz-wracked London to share Alice’s spartan bed and board. Alice wastes no time pretending to love children and strenuously objects to the imposition, practically throwing food at the child for his first supper in the cottage.

But even a hard case like Alice can softened up. Director Swale allows us to enjoy watching a tentative relationship unfold between the flinty loner and the endearing, curly-haired little Frank (Lucas Bond) as they tramp up hills and over dales in the sunlight. A scornful girl and self-described individualist, Edie (Dixie Egerickx), perhaps stands in as a younger version of Alice, and plays up the themes of affection and friendship reluctantly won.

Unfortunately, the story goes pear-shaped fast. Swale treats us to gauzy, sorrowful flashbacks of Alice’s forbidden interracial lesbian love (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), played girlish and chaste as lesbian movie love so often is, and out of step with Alice’s intense personality. The film then piles on a bad (and out of character) decision leading to frantic drama and a leaden coincidence highlighted with a painfully amateurish sequence of crosscuts. The plot twists are perplexing for a movie that starts out rather more original.

For all the missteps, one is inclined to forgive and appreciate Summerland on its own terms. The movie offers some tender moments, some mildly comic ones, and frames them in limpid, beautiful cinematography. Secondary characters like a selfless Mr. Chips–ish schoolmaster (Tom Courtenay) add a sympathetic layer to the story. And Arterton’s fine acting succeeds in establishing a difficult, awkward, but still thoughtful character. Filmmakers could do worse, and often do.