Synopsis
Arnaud, facing an uncertain future and a dearth of choices in a small French coastal town, meets and falls for the apocalyptic-minded Madeleine, who joins an army boot camp to learn military and survival skills to prepare for the upcoming environmental collapse. Intrigued and excited by Madeleine’s wild ideas, Arnaud signs up for the boot camp himself. They soon realize that the boot camp is harder than they’d imagined, but the experience nonetheless cements them together as the couple continues to explore their young love.
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Cast
- Adèle HaenelMadeleine Beaulieu
- Kévin AzaïsArnaud Labrède
- Antoine LaurentManu Labrède
- Brigitte RoüanHélène Labrède
- William LebghilXavier
- Thibaut BerducatVictor
- Nicolas WanczyckiLieutenant Schliefer
- Frédéric PellegeayRecruteur
- Steve TientcheuAdjudant Ruiz
- Franc BruneauLe conseiller funéraire
Recommendations
- 75
The A.V. Club
Even when it’s slowing down, Fight shows beguiling confidence in both its filmmaking and its characters—enough to make its smallest romantic moments feel significant. - 75
RogerEbert.com
Madeleine (Adele Haenel) does not know that she is a character in a rom-com. She thinks she's in a war movie. Or, better yet, a dystopian post-apocalyptic movie. Anything but a rom-com. She does not smile until an hour and 20 minutes into Love at First Fight. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Love at First Fight is overflowing with relentlessly acerbic humor that shapes the way the film's two young protagonists contend with not just each other, but also with the uncertainties of the world they're emerging into as adults. - 70
The Dissolve
The title does a real disservice to the film, a romantic comedy made with both visual and narrative intelligence, centered by great performances from Kévin Azaïs and Adèle Haenel. - 70
Village Voice
Rejuvenating the romantic comedy through its unusual premise — in which training for an elite army unit releases a flood of pheromones — Cailley's film is also buoyed by its enormously appealing leads, Kévin Azaïs and Adèle Haenel. - 70
The New York Times
For its first two-thirds, the film, written and directed by Thomas Cailley, seems to be groundbreaking. Then it slides into comforting familiarity. - 60
Variety
Though the slow-boil chemistry is there, the script feels flat, content to rely on the surface friction between its lead actors, rather than creating scenes in which we can really get to know the pair’s respective personalities before testing their limits in the field. - 50
Slant Magazine
Transparently wearing metaphors on its singed sleeves, the film shuttles around courses of meaning and significance without committing to any.
