The New Girlfriend review: wickedly engrossing tale of cross-dressing, newly widowed father

François Ozon's excellent new film couldn't look any glossier, says Charlotte O'Sullivan, but it's core is surprisingly quiet and matter-of-fact
Love flirty: Claire, played by Anaïs Demoustier, and Roman Duris as David strike up an unlikely relationship
The New Girlfriend

François Ozon rarely plays things straight. The mischievous French genius who gave us 8 Women is capable of turning out generic, art-house fare (Young & Beautiful), but mostly manages to subvert cinema’s most cherished truths. Like Pedro Almodóvar, he’s a fan of British crime writers. Here, he adapts a short story by Ruth Rendell (which revolves around the emotional journey of a cross-dressing, newly widowed father). The result is wickedly engrossing.

David (Romain Duris) and Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) are united by grief: his recently departed wife, Laura, was her best friend; his baby is her god-child. But when she discovers him in Laura’s clothes, new feelings begin to stir.

Both characters are meticulous about what they wear and their euphoria, on a shopping spree, is infectious (their visit to a gay bar induces similarly heightened emotions). The film couldn’t look glossier, the camera is forever swooping in for close-ups and the music is all over the place (alternately swoony and sinister).

Yet if that makes The New Girlfriend sound over the top, you’ll be surprised by its quiet, matter-of-fact core. Past, present and future come together as David and Claire try to balance grief and lust. I found the ending a touch implausible and contrived. Until then, it’s an honour to spend time with these over-privileged, under-satisfied loons.

Cert 15, 108 mins

Latest film reviews

1/99

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in