French Lover: An affair to forget

French Lover (2025) • View trailer

Two stars (out of five). Rated TV-MA, for sexual candor, mild nudity and profanity

Available via: Netflix

By Derrick Bang

Although numerous sources have called this romantic dramedy a French, gender-reversed response to 1999’s Notting Hill, the comparison is superficial at best.

 

Despite the fact that ABel (Omar Sy) repeatedly behaves badly, like a spoiled child, he
always apologizes ... and Marion (Sara Giraudeau) always forgives him. Too many times...

Hugh Grant’s “regular bloke” in that earlier film is a successful bookstore owner, with a solid gaggle of supportive friends; he also has his act together. Sara Giraudeau’s Marion, in director Lisa-Nina Rives’ new film, has neither a job nor savings, is in the midst of messily divorcing her loutish husband Antoine (Amaury de Crayencour), and is an emotional wreck. Her only companion is an adored Great Dane named Claudine.

Even so, Marion’s vulnerability is endearing, and Giraudeau plays her 

well; she’d have been a great character in a different film.

 

Getting back to Notting Hill, Julia Roberts’ famed Hollywood actress is a nice person ... whereas this story’s similarly celebrated Abel Camara (Omar Sy) is an arrogant, self-centered horse’s ass who expects everything, including female companions, to be handed to him on a silver platter.

 

Sy, who has charisma to burn, can’t make this jerk appealing. Not even at his better moments.

 

As a result, this story — scripted by Noémie Saglio and Hugo Gélin, loosely inspired by the Israeli TV series A Very Important Person — never successfully sells its relationship of unequals. Sy and Giraudeau give it their best, and Rives’ film has some charming moments ... but accepting the telegraphed inevitability of where this will conclude, is a major eye-roller.

 

The story opens with a terrific tracking montage, as Abel swans his way through a TV commercial shoot for a perfume dubbed French Lover; once in the can, he angrily stalks off, believing himself “above” doing such twaddle. He lands in a bistro where Marion works as a waitress; after taking his order, she responds to a text on her phone, at which point Abel narcissistically accuses her of filming him, in order to post on social media.

 

The resulting brouhaha costs Marion her job, and she stalks off in a huff. Suddenly contrite, full of apologies, Abel slowly paces her while in his car, insisting — at the very least — on being allowed to drive her home.

 

It’s important to note that although Abel behaves as if his contrition is sincere, he never clarifies why he’s apologizing ... meaning, he never acknowledges his conceited assumption.