François Ozon's "Jeune & Jolie" ("Young & Beautiful") is a mystery — not in the sense of whodunit, but why.
We first meet Isabelle (model Marine Vacth) on summer holiday with her family. She's at that age — on the cusp of turning 17 — where she wants some independence from her all-too-understanding mother Sylvie (Géraldine Pailhas) and stepfather Patrick (Frédéric Pierrot). She confides her secrets only to her younger brother Victor (Fantin Ravat).
"Jeune & Jolie" is a coming-of-age story, set over four seasons and scored with some plaintive Françoise Hardy songs. It looks like your typical French romance, but it packs a sting in its tail. Isabelle is attracted to a German boy, Felix (Lucas Prisor), and is determined to lose her virginity with him, but after a rather unspectacular first time on the beach, she pulls back — perhaps just as repelled by how much her parents seem to like him — and by the end of their vacation, she leaves without even saying goodbye.