In the late 1930s, two American sisters, Laura and Kate Barlow, travel to France where they perform séances at cabarets with Laura hosting the session and Kate channeling the spirits. A public performance of theirs is seen by French film producer Andre Korben. Impressed by their act, he books them for a private session and is moved by the spirit that visits him. Feeling stifled by the lack of innovation in the French film industry, Korben convinces investors and his team to film a séanceas it happens. Unfortunately for Korben, the reels look ridiculous. But the director is drawn to Laura, who, despite not being a spiritualist, has a face that photographs well. The film team conceives of a conventional script in which Laura plays a medium who channels the spirit of a widower's wife and the three become locked in a love triangle with the widower unsure if he is falling in love with his former wife or the medium. Laura and Kate move in with Korben, who is generous and kind to them. However, he continues to hold private séances with Kate, much to Laura's displeasure. Eventually, Laura is forced to leave for the coast to continue filming. Korben takes Kate to a metaphysical scientist and films their sessions together. On the coast, Laura realizes that the rise of anti-semitism means the tides are turning against Korben. Rumours that he once performed in porn abound; and someone writes that she is a Jew's whore on her mirror. When Korben and Kate arrive to reunite with Laura, Korben shows his producers and investors the film of him and Kate which shows nothing. The director walks off the film and blames the money Korben has wasted chasing ghosts as an excuse. Meanwhile, Kate falls ill and reveals that she hasn't been faking but really can see ghosts. She believes this is because she is dying. Kate has leukemia, which is a death sentence at the time. Korben is jailed for his wasted investments and the trial strips him of his French citizenship. Years later, Kate is dead; and Korben has been sent to a death camp in "the East". Laura runs into Eva, an actress she once knew, who helps her get a part in a film working with her former director. No longer involved with spiritualism or Korben, Laura's film career in Nazi era France is assured.
In May 2015, it was announced that Natalie Portman and Lily-Rose Depp had been cast in the film as sisters. It was also announced Rebecca Zlotowski would be directing from a screenplay by her and Robin Campillo, with Frederic Jouve's producing under his Les Films Velvet banner. Filming began in Paris late September 2015.
Release
In May 2015, it was announced that Ad Vitam Distribution would be distributing the film in France, with an expected 2016 release. In January 2016, the first image from the film was released featuring Portman and Depp. It was screened at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16%, based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 4.78/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Summoning looks out on a constellation of potentially brilliant ideas, but proves fatally unable to find its focus." On Metacritic the film has a score of 44 out of 100 score, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Owen Gleiberman of Variety magazine gave the film a negative review and wrote: "Planetarium is an inert and slipshod movie — messy and aimless, a period tale told with zero period atmosphere, built around a situation with enough possibilities to make you wish that the director, Rebecca Zlotowski, had taken advantage of at least one of them."
