Synopsis
Julien and Marguerite de Ravalet, son and daughter of the Lord of Tourlaville, have loved each other tenderly since childhood. But as they grow up, their affection veers toward voracious passion.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Anaïs DemoustierMarguerite de Ravalet
- Jérémie ElkaïmJulien de Ravalet
- Aurélia PetitMadame de Ravalet
- Frédéric PierrotJean de Ravalet
- Geraldine ChaplinLa mère de Lefebvre
- Sami FreyAbbé de Hambye
- Raoul FernandezLefevbre
- Esther GarrelLa meneuse orphelinat
- Serge BozonMédecin
- Manon KneuséUne prostituée
Recommendations
- 60
Village Voice
The widescreen intimacy of small moments — the flush of a rain-soaked cheek — humanizes Donzelli's grand folly and the couple who challenge the parameters of morality. - 58
Hitfix
Demoustier is charismatic enough to almost help Donzelli pull it off, but Elkaïm is so stiff as Julien you never understand why Marguerite is willing to risk her life in the first place. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Ambitiously mounted but wildly uneven. - 50
The A.V. Club
It’s somehow both mannered and style-less, fantastical and under-imagined—perversely watchable, in other words. - 40
CineVue
As fate closes in on the lovers, the silliness of their own behaviour and Marguerite & Julien in general prevents any pathos from entering the scene. The taboo of incest never troubles as one never truly believe that they are brother and sister - or in love - or anything else. - 38
RogerEbert.com
Rather than presenting something akin to the heady youthful cravings of Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as contemporary versions of Romeo and Juliet, the equally tragic Marguerite & Julien often feels more like a version of Richie and Margot in Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” crossed with the pre-teen runaways from “Moonrise Kingdom,” but minus the humor and insight. - 30
Variety
The film is a painfully silly, laughably naive Romance with a capital “R.” - 25
Slant Magazine
It finds its filmmaker completely lost between impulses to pay homage, play it safe, or offer something—anything—new.
