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Yann Samuell’s film starts with a sweetness reminiscent of another French romance that made it big in the States, Amélie. Two lonely children, Julien and Sophie, invent a game where they dare each other to do increasingly outrageous things. It starts as an innocent escape from adult rules and restrictions, but as they get older, the game takes on a distinct sadistic (and masochistic) tinge. It’s evident that Sophie (Marion Cotillard) and Julien (Guillaume Canet) are in love, but rather than admit it, they find ways to keep from getting together, daring each other to sleep with other people and humiliating each other in public. The film takes the couple from childhood through their mid 30s, suggesting that their friendship has been sustained for so long, they must be soul mates, but they’re so mean to each other, that’s hard to believe. Samuell mixes reality with fantasy, including some beautifully shot dream sequences with candy-colored cut-out sets. Looks aren’t everything, though, and as Sophie and Julien become nastier and nastier to each other, they create a mood the film can’t recover from. In French with English subtitles. (93 minutes)
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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