This movie is the queen of holding a moment where two people are about to kiss, but then they don’t. It is the longest hold out for two people kissing that when they finally do, it’s one of the best kisses in cinema. I have enjoyed every Céline Sciamma film that I’ve seen. All of them are small and intimate. This one is not as mature and focused as her other films, but it is still enthralling. The subplot with the best friend doesn’t really connect with me though. I get it’s showing another side of coming of age sexuality, but the love story between Marie and Floriane is just so much more compelling. However the moment at the end between Anne and François is just fantastic. Adèle Haenel looks exactly the same as she does now and yet at the same time looks like a completely different person. It’s interesting to think of her as 18 and then her starting to date the director later. Pauline Acquart has such a unique look to her. She looks like a different person with each angle the camera shoots her at. There are also two compositions in here that blew me away: 1) the picture below when Marie sees Floriane and François kissing and 2) when Marie and Floriane hold hands over the bed longingly when Floriane is about to go have sex with François. At times she looks 14 then 16 then 26. This also shows me that it can’t be worth it to get into synchronized swimming — it just doesn’t seem fun.
