Parisian provocateur Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool, Time to Leave) again fixes his clinician’s gaze on the business of lust to further explore his pet preoccupations of identity and sexuality among teenage adolescents. In Isabelle’s (Marine Vacth) case, sexuality is allied with neither money nor feelings. Nor is the privileged schoolkid using it as an excuse to work her way through the Sorbonne. While most 17-year-olds rely on booze or narcotics as a means of self-destructive dissent, our comely heroine’s drug of choice is prostitution. Even though Isabelle’s motivation is never made clear, Vacth’s subtle inflections indicate there’s a brain at work behind the seductive mask. Credit also goes to cinematographer Pascal Marti for his sensational job of mirroring Ozon mentor Douglas Sirk’s highly-reflective surfaces. But why Ozon chose as his framework something as rudimentary as the four seasons is anybody’s guess. The real puzzle is why each quarter is underscored with sappy pop tunes that add a thin patina of irony to an otherwise even-handed pursuit. (2013) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.