Film Review: Lie With Me is polite and mannered, but a powerful tragedy of self-denial

Lie With Me is a little too polite and mannered to be truly heart-breaking.

• Lie With Me
• ★★★★☆
• (Cinema release)

Lie With Me (15A) stars Guillaume de Tonquédec as the celebrated author Stéphane Belcourt, ‘the great writer of love’ who returns to his hometown of Cognac 35 years after he left to deliver a speech at the famous brandy distillery.

There he encounters Lucas (Victor Belmondo), the son of Thomas Andrieu (Julien de Saint-Jean), Stephane’s first and only great love.

Curious to know more about the father who abandoned his family when his son was still a young boy, Lucas pesters Stéphane for the truth about Thomas. 

But is Stéphane entitled to tell a story that Thomas, all those years ago, was so adamant should remain a secret? 

Extended flashbacks to 1984, when Thomas and Stephane (played by Jérémy Gillet) embark on their torrid but secret affair, flesh out the older Stéphane’s memories in Olivier Peyon’s stylish coming-of-age drama that offers a both-sides-now meditation on love, shame and regret. 

Victor Belmondo – the grandson of Jean-Paul – is a quietly effective foil to Guillaume de Tonquédec’s thoughtful, generous portrayal of Stéphane, with Julien de Saint-Jean and Jérémy Gillet a vibrant pair as the teenage lovers. 

Adapted from Philippe Besson’s self-autobiographical novel, Lie With Me is a little too polite and mannered to be truly heart-breaking; nevertheless, the performances and the tragedy of a life lived in self-denial ring very true.