Presque Rien review

Mathieu (Jérémie Elkraïm) is a shy teenager with a workaholic father and a grieving, depressed mother, who's spending his summer vacation in Brittany. There, on the beach, he catches the eye of the handsome, confident Cedric (Stephane Rideau). They begin an intense affair and plan to live together when the holiday is over. Months later, however, a now-single Mathieu returns to the same stretch of coast, encountering Pierre (Nils Ohlund), an old boyfriend of Cedric's...

Written and directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, this coming-out tale sits firmly in the tradition of French intimiste dramas. Shifting backwards and forwards between the seasons, it's a low-key, elliptical affair, which wisely doesn't try to over `explain' the events of the film. Fluently photographed and grounded by assured performances, Presque Rien subtly conveys the uncertainties, confusions and pleasures of adolescence.