Eté 85

In this enjoyably twisty exercise in virtuoso storytelling, the ever-surprising François Ozon pays tribute to the French summer movie tradition, to US 1980s teen movies – and to himself. Based on Aidan Chambers’s novel “Dance on My Grave”, his new film is a gay teenage love story, as working-class Alex falls for glamorous, free-wheeling David. But as the death-obsessed Alex tells us at the start, it will also be a story about a corpse.
Ozon sets us up for something sinister à la Ruth Rendell or Claude Chabrol, then takes us on a journey we don’t expect – one that’s tender and sometimes funny, and certainly Ozon’s most whole-heartedly queer movie in some time. From the hairstyles to the soundtrack – with the Cure’s “In Between Days” setting the tone – Ozon gets the 1980s dead right, with tenderness rather than the ironic amusement of so many retro films. He even works in an echo of his own early signature-defining short A SUMMER DRESS. It’s an irresistible offering from a director who, 19 features into his career, is technically a veteran but here, as much as ever, altogether a young master. (Jonathan Romney)

François Ozon: REGARDE LA MER (1997), SITCOM (1998), LES AMANTS CRIMINELS (1999), GOUTTES D’EAU SUR PIERRES BRÛLANTES (2000), SOUS LE SABLE (2000), 8 FEMMES (2002), SWIMMING POOL (2003), 5X2 (2004), LE TEMPS QUI RESTE (2005), ANGEL (2007), UN LEVER DE RIDEAU ET AUTRES HISTOIRES (2007), RICKY (2009), POTICHE (2010), DANS LA MAISON (2012), JEUNE ET JOLIE (2013), UNE NOUVELLE AMIE (2014), FRANTZ (2016), L’AMANT DOUBLE (2017), GRÂCE À DIEU (2018)