Anaïs in Love review – beguiling and leisurely portrait of queer romance

A millennial woman running in search of life, love and meaning has become a new cinematic sub-genre. From an awe-inspiring change of heart in The Worst Person in the World, to a spirited chase in Licorice Pizza, to the most glorious use of celluloid haste in Frances Ha, Anaïs in Love arrives as the latest addition in this canon of women sprinting towards a new start. While the eponymous Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier) is often in a hurry, though, Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s enchanting debut is not. Taking in the surroundings at a leisurely pace, this French romcom follows a thirty-something stumbling towards her own version of love that shapes like clay in her hands.

Caught in the push and pull of feminine desire, Anaïs falls into bed with Daniel (Denis Podalydès), a writer twice her age. Though, like with most things in her life, such as the promise to pay rent or finish her thesis, the moment is fleeting. It's in a photo frame on Daniel’s bedside table, however, that Anaïs finds the next subject of her yearning endeavours: Daniel’s wife Emilie (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi). First charmed by Emilie’s words and then the writer’s enigmatic but stoic presence, Anaïs’ slow-burn romance with the older woman brings a sense of contentment to the younger’s frantic ways.

Anaïs’ carefree quirks would quickly grow tiresome if it wasn’t for the radiant talent of Demoustier, who strides through every scene with a wide-eyed ardency. She shines brightest even in the film’s darkest moments; after receiving bad news from her mother, Anaïs heads for the ocean on a languid summer evening. She clings to herself, unclear if she’s going to be sick or sob, before falling into the waves as though to christen herself anew. That is the journey of the emotionally arresting Anaïs in Love: the sharp, 93-minute film is not so much a linear romance as it is a portrait of chaotic, impulsive but ultimately fulfilling love.

Comparisons to Éric Rohmer come naturally with Noé Bach’s sun-kissed cinematography, yet Bourgeois-Tacquet’s unique stamp can be found in the way she writes these characters. Navigating the love triangle dynamic of what amounts to a beguiling queer tale, Daniel and Emilie project versions of themselves, and who they aspire to be, onto Anaïs, though the titular character refuses to meet such clichés. Instead, she forges her own path of playful unconventionality. That unpredictable air even carries into the wonderful flourish of the final shot, which shows Anaïs continuing to live life to the full. And why shouldn't she?

Anaïs in Love is released in UK cinemas and on Curzon Home Cinema on 19 August.