A story of love and desire: a jewel of sensuality (review)

ByLeila January 17, 2025January 17, 2025

Leyla Bouzid films the dawn of love between two young people, superbly played by Sami Outalbali and Zbeida Belhajamor.

A story of love and desire touched Première right in the heart, in 2021. Here is our review, while waiting for its broadcast this Saturday evening, on France 4.,

This second feature film by Leyla Bouzid after I barely open my eyes (2015), closed Cannes Critics’ Week 2021 in a beautiful way. Its very title had the value of a promise: past, present and future. Here we follow the beginnings of a romantic relationship between Ahmed, an 18-year-old young man of Algerian origin and Farah, who has recently arrived in Paris from Tunis, to continue her studies in Literature. It is also on the benches of the university that these two meet. If he seems to repress his feelings in the name of awkward modesty, she lives more freely, placing a certain carefreeness at the heart of everything. Farah notably introduces Ahmed to Arab erotic literature, shaking up his certainties a little more, to the point of creating an imbalance.

Through them, Leyla Bouzid explores with remarkable finesse the torments inherent to adolescence and the doubts they arouse. The social context is obviously crucial. As sure as we are our parents’ children, Ahmed must deal with a family legacy made up of unsaid words and frustrations. Son of uprooted Algerians living in the suburbs, his father is plunged into a certain silence which inevitably reflects on his son. Farah will then work to unlock this impossible lover. The staging is full of sensuality, films these bodies in movement and accompanies their inner journey so that this love and this desire can be expressed, finally detached from everything that could hold them prisoner.

Trailer:

A story of love and desire and La Vraie famille triumph in Angoulême

Leila

Leila is the editor-in-chief at DTmovies, leading the charge with her team to deliver engaging cinema and series content. With a keen eye for emerging trends and a passion for the stories behind the screen, she is the creative backbone that drives the site’s editorial excellence. Her expertise and dedication have established DTmovies as a go-to source for film and series enthusiasts.