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Prolific french auteur Francois Ozon returns with a quicksilver dark comedy that sees Fabrice Luchini play Germain, a literature teacher faced with gifted 16-year-old pupil Claude (Ernst Umhauer).
Encouraged, Claude pens a series of essays about his classmate, Rapha, and his family – which the voyeuristic Germain delights in reading to his wife (Kristin Scott Thomas).
Needless to say, as fiction and reality blur, it all gets très messy, as Ozon vividly explores ideas of manipulation and authorial control.
Utterly assured, breathtakingly executed and riotously funny, this is a delight.
James Mottram is a freelance film journalist, author of books that dive deep into films like Die Hard and Tenet, and a regular guest on the Total Film podcast. You'll find his writings on GamesRadar+ and Total Film, and in newspapers and magazines from across the world like The Times, The Independent, The i, Metro, The National, Marie Claire, and MindFood.