Beautiful!

I was very much engaged by the plot and performance throughout. I thought the directing, camera work and editing make most of the new horror films I have seen recently look like soulless music videos in comparison. I loved how Venice looks in it. I can see why the Vatican was not happy.

For me it was tense watching the inevitable plot unfold, but worth the experience.
The subtleties of every second of this film allowed me to reflect rather than react - and as a parent, I wanted to react. Squirm in my seat a bit, actually. But the restraint of Breillat’s direction, portraying sex scenes as no more than essential behavior portraits advancing story, kept me in the moment. It felt to me like a serious rebuttal to Malle’s Damage. I can watch most any film if it ends as a completed thesis and this did. The final dialogue makes it so.