Anaïs in Love

It may be hard to care about this egotist’s love life, but the film’s civilised, breezy manner and its sunny rural locations (recalling Eric Rohmer movies) are easy to like.

Demoustier so supercharges her performance with charisma, she almost seems to sparkle.

... Achingly unoriginal.

An enjoyable if contrived French comedy that often feels like a parody of the genre. Unlike Léonor Serraille’s Jeune Femme, Anais has none of the charm or the fully formed ideas of the film it is so desperate to emulate.

Bourgeois-Tacquet’s debut feature offers superficial reminders of Eric Rohmer, but the humour — and more serious juxtapositions — are closer in tone to Woody Allen at his best (a director much admired by the French, of course).

French queer cinema is striding out at its best in Anaïs In Love, set to be a sure-fire comfort hit for many generations to come.

Although humanly flawed and some decisions aren’t meant to be applauded (yet understandable), Demoustier makes the character charming, tangible, and alluring.

Refusing to judge and dotting the action with highbrow allusions, Bourgeois-Tacquet frees the camera to keep up with Demoustier,whose tour de force display touches on screwball brilliance.

Sums up everything we love about Le Cinéma Français: idealised but pragmatic, witty but razor-sharp, playful but realistic. In Bourgeois-Tacquet' feature debut, this is confident filmmaking that establishes her as a name to watch in French cinema.

A delicious set-up -- shame about the spark-free pay-off.