Summer of 85 (dir. François Ozon) x VIFF 2020.

This scintillating mid-‘80s-set French gay teen romance and intimately told story of heartbreak feels like melodrama at its most stylish as faithfully adapted from British author Aidan Chambers’ 1982 queer novel Dance on My Grave. Full soapy highs and lows, Ozon packs so much into his tender film synched to period appropriate pop soundtrack with a luscious coastal France backdrop.

• Screened virtually at the 2020 Vancouver International Film Festival online as part of the Contemporary World Cinema stream.