Outfest Film Review: Le Reflet

The coming of age film Le Reflet, framed within the Greek legend of Narcissus, concerns entitled teenager Louis (Oscar Comtet) who spends his Summer studying for his exams while his parents vacation. When the dark complected Alexis catches his eye, he becomes quite smitten with the uneducated farmhand down the road.  Living away from the trappings of the city on the very rural and innocent French countryside, the boys negotiate their feelings of sexuality and fraternity rather clumsily. Once the obstacle of a girl Irène is removed from the equation, the two carry on like a married couple without the sex. One criticizes the other for not measuring up, while trying to impose his romantic ideals upon him and teach him poetry. Director Morgane Rousseau expertly captures the randomness of youthful emotions through long, carefully crafted, pensive takes. Foreboding music often rises to a simmer, as Louis experiences longing he doesn't quite understand how to act upon. Few words are spoken between the characters and the ones that are chosen reveal just how much they're able to process the mechanics of their relationship.  While not the impatient, Rousseau sprinkles her coming-of-age story with a sense of humor on its path to a subtle, yet painfully tragic ending.