In extremis

Gay cinema has brought us marvels. This is not one. Pretentious, scriptless, unbearably slow and meaningless, this is yet again a story of a hesitating man torn between being what he is, gay and the love for his girlfriend. A drama shot in an apartment among Parisian petit bourgeois. The story never really takes off. The film is a collection of preposterous dramatic sequences, filmed with attitude posing for talent. As boring as it gets. A disappointment even for fans of Gay cinema. The cast is quite good with early performances of up and coming Julie Depardieu and Aureline Wiik. Both of them cannot do much to save such a bad script.

The story is about a stupidly indulgent young man who is virtually inured to the pain of those who love him simply because he will not grow up. The acting is excellent, the boy playing Greg is particularly good. However, the endless cigarette smoking (surely even the French don't light up as often as the leads in his film) is exasperating in this frustrating and often tedious film. Unless the audience has considerable sympathy for characters like Thomas, the time spent watching the film is wasted. Watching attractive people with their whole lives in front of them drink, sniff coke and generally over indulge themselves is boring, boring, boring. Even the ambiguous ending offers little in the way of hope or redemption.

this movie is really an independant movie! we can think at Gus van sant or Larry clark it is a very interesting way to talk about our society, parents from the end of the sixteen, love etc... i think you love that kind of movie or you hate it cause it's really unconventional and original but certainly not a bad hollywood pop corn movie!!!! franck

You could watch this film just for the eye candy, or for the literary quotations, or for the art exhibits; but don't expect soft porn or high poetry, you won't find such excitements. Most of the time the scenes are too dark anyway.

I think this is a story of continuous meaningless deaths, of people who get bonded by them, of incompatible relations, and of desperate attempts to make sense of all this.

Two orphans are in love, but live and have sex with others; two sex dates love him but are not loved back. When a kid loves him as a father, and is loved back, everyone makes their choices at last, but the solution is too good to be true...

While this was an interesting French film, it was both visually curious and emotionally unsettling throughout. The cast did an excellent job with what they were given to work with but therein lies the challenge. The script bounced about and the lighting was so dark, it made following a bit much at times. The ending left much to be desired as it resolved so little. So many plot points had been created but infinitely neglected. I didn't dislike the film. It simply left me hoping for a more substantial denouement. Still, I'd recommend this film if asked. But I would make the viewers aware it's more thoughts and feelings (for all of the characters) than a fully fleshed out story.