Liebe auf den ersten Schlag

Arnaud is going to spend his summer working in the family business of making high quality sheds. Then they get a gig at the house of Madeleine's parents and he sort of falls for her.

She is a feisty young woman who is waiting for the apocalypse and just wants to be ready to survive. This also involves her wanting to join the French Army and do all that gruelling training stuff that quite frankly would have me running the other way. The question for Arnaud is how far is he willing to go to win her – apparently ice cold – heart.

This is a sort of comedy, as it has a few comedic moments, but what it really is, is an unconventional love story – as Morrissey wrote 'this one is different because it's us' – and as such it should be hard to empathise with them – yet by dint of chemistry it is quite the opposite. There is a vibrancy to the whole thing that sweeps you along with it.

This is a warm, amusing film, with great direction and acting and you may even learn a few tips on survival – all in all a recommended watch.

I'm a big fan of French films. It's true I haven't seen many of them, but they all had one thing in common: none of them have disappointed me. No matter if we are talking about a comedy, romance, thriller,... they always manage to provide excellent films. Even when the films are about "topics", which is the case of this film...

Summer-Boy-Girl. Sounds familiar right? Not that fast. As a quick recap for this film works, but just for that. You are not going to find here the classical "summer love" story. Weird moments, funny moments, romantic moments, even about-life-reflections moments, the story will keep you engaged from first minute till end. The main two characters are awesome (Madeleine weird-tough-lovely combination rocks). They show up in almost 100% of the scenes, but you never get tired of them. Fantastic work by the main two actors, there was a lot of chemistry between them on film.

This film is not only going to give you a 1h30min of good time, it is also going to provide you a feel-good sensation for the rest of the day. So don't hesitate and give a shoot to this film!

Love this film !! The acting from both Adele and Kevin is amazing, the script is well written and the plot is interesting.

I much enjoyed this comedy drama movie. Mostly because of the convincing characters, especially the gal with men manners but so glamorous from a certain point of view. I loved her character. A Young woman in search of herself. Some exquisite sequences when the Young folks are voluntarily drafted. A pretty good try as a first long time feature for the Young director.

Made on locations in the South of France, at least I guess. A movie that doesn't tire you at all. No length. You have the feeling that it only lasts one hour.

A story that makes you think about the meaning of life, as the characters do for themselves. A film that also gives you a good feeling, a magic one towards nature. That's the way I felt this feature. But maybe I am wrong, maybe this was not the true message.

Starring Adele Haenel and Kevin Azais

Written by Thomas Cailley and Claude Le Pape

Directed by Thomas Cailley

It's a while since I've watched a foreign subtitled movie and this is one of those hidden gems that you sometimes find on the TV listings.

It's a boy meets girl romance with a difference. It's quirky, wonderfully understated and quite mesmerizing to watch. This is a gentle film without any big plots or car chases but I really enjoyed it. It's well written with a nice touch of humour throughout.

Good film.

8/10