'YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL' "IS MUCH MORE DIABOLICAL THAN I WAS PREPARED FOR"
San Francisco Bay Guardian's Jesse Hawthorne Ficks writes about François Ozon's Young and Beautiful, which he saw at this year's Toronto International Film Festival (and which Brian De Palma saw at the Cannes Film Festival this past May). "Ozon has created a haunting thriller that should not be dismissed easily," states Ficks. "Young and Beautiful (France) follows a 17-year-old girl in what sounds an Eric Rohmer-esque portrait: four seasons, four songs. But while the rampant sexual excursions may get overlooked due to another French film this year... this tense tingler is much more diabolical than I was prepared for. It's darkly reminiscent of Brian De Palma and David Lynch — so, in other words, don't make any assumptions until the last frame is finished. Newcomer Marine Vacth delivers a fearless performance, but veteran Charlotte Rampling may have stolen the show with a role that calls to mind Under the Sand (2000) and Swimming Pool (2003)."