Bonjour Tristesse Review – An Entertaining Coming of Age Drama, Captivating

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Thursday, 01 May 2025 10:08

Written by Janet Walker

Bonjour Tristesse, from Greenwich Entertainment, brings to the screen a beautiful summer vacation of languishing by the French seaside, of love and romance which takes tragic turn when an old friend shows up and changes the dynamics.

The film's title translates to 'Hello Sadness,' and begins with 18-year-old Cécile, played by Lily McInerny, vacationing with her father, Raymond, played by Claes Bang, and his girlfriend Elsa, played by Naïlia Harzoune. The relationship between Cecile and Elsa is one of comradery and Cecile is attracted to Elsa's free-spirited Parisian attitude which seemed to fit perfectly.

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During these first few minutes we understand that Cecile lost her mother when she was six, and it has been just the two of them for some time. We also understand that while Elsa is fun, beautiful, and perfectly Parisian, she doesn't enjoy many of the same things as Raymond.

Not long into the film, Raymond explains that Anne, played by Chloë Sevigny, his late wife's best friend, will be joining them. We see how the dynamics immediately being to shift. Anne is an American, an executive in fashion, and has history with the family, and with Raymond.

One thing leads to another, and soon Anne and Raymond are together. Once Cecile discovers this, she considers it a betrayal, as Anne interrupts the summer freedom with a rigidness, and control. Suddenly she is forced to abandon the carefree vacation life, free of restraints, and spend the remainder of their vacation considering her future.

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Of course, once Cecile is threatened she decides she can destroy the relationship and her dad will return to Elsa, and she won't have this constant pressure of expectations. Amid the sun-drenched splendor of their surroundings, Cécile's world is threatened and, desperate to regain control, she sets in motion a plan to drive Anne away.

So, she pulls Elsa and Cyril, played by Aliocha Schneider, her summer lover, in a destructive triangle. Soon, she has Raymond believing that Elsa left him for the much younger Cyril, and finally has Anne, believing Raymond returned to Elsa. In a cunning, and masterful circumvent, we see Cecile, aided by Elsa and Cyril, play the pair with the skill of a virtuoso.

This ushers in the final act, which has devastating consequences. In the end, we see Cecile, becomes that which she was desperate to drive away. And in her childish and selfish ways, what she believed was a fling, a desperate attempt to resurrect her mother, and something that would destroy her, was an irreplaceable love. Sadness adds a new bond that holds their family together.

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Bonjour Tristesse is an adaptation of Françoise Sagan's unforgettable coming-of-age novel by the same title, Director Durga Chew-Bose's Bonjour Tristesse captures the complexity of relationships between women and how they wield influence over one another.

The cinematography is stunning, as the film is shot entirely on the exquisite French seaside, in a small villa overlooking the sea. Many of the shots could be artistic replications of images seen in museums, an open window overlooking the horizon, a bowl of fruit, beams of sunlight reaching into a darkened place.

The ensemble performances bring this film to life. The dynamics are effortlessly depicted, and the subtleties and undercurrents easily project. Aided by the magnificent location, and the excellent portrayals, the film conjures lost moments.

Bonjour Tristesse, an engrossing and captivating coming of age drama, opens in select theaters May 2, 2025. See it. 

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Country: France.

Language: English, French, with English subtitles.

Release Date: May 2, 2025, in select theaters.

Distributor: Greenwich Entertainment.

Director: Durga Chew-Bose.

Produced by: Durga Chew-Bose, Benito Mueller, Wolfgang Mueller, Katie Bird Nolan, Christina Piovesan, Noah Segal, Lindsay Tapscott, Julie Viez. Babe Nation Films, Lindsay Tapscott, Katie Bird Nolan, Elevation Pictures.

Executive Producer: Omar Chalabi, Suzanna Court, Emily Kulasa, Jesse Weening, Fabian Westerhoff, Denis Westhoff.

Writer: Durga Chew-Bose. Based on the French novella "Bonjour Tristesse" by Françoise Sagan. 

Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang, Lily McInerny, Nailia Harzoune, Aliocha Schneider, Nathalie Richard, Thierru Harcourt, Rebecca Dayan, Moncef Farfar, Rosalie Charrier, Melodie Adda.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is completing the non-fiction narrative, "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," which is expected to be released in early 2025. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.