Dangerous Liaisons is a new Netflix French romantic drama film that follows the intense and blooming romance between newbie Célène and well-known surfer, Tristan.
Story
Célène (Paola Locatelli) and her father moves from Paris to Biarritz. She will attend an exclusive neighbourhood high school there while living with her cousin, Charlotte (Héloise Janjaud).
She meets Tristan (Simon Rérolle), a surfer and Instagram sensation, on her first day in the city. She meets Tao during the pool party where he tells her about Instagram’s popular culture and Vanessa (Ella Pellegrini), Tristan’s girlfriend.
Tristan and Célène propose performing a play to generate funds for the surgery of a fellow surfer.
She is drawn to Tristan despite being engaged to her Parisian boyfriend Pierre (Aymeric Fougeron). He takes her to the caves, and they share a kiss.
With Vanessa, he maintains a fake relationship for the sake of fame and exploits that to try to win a bet. Vanessa goes live on Instagram during the play to try to win people over to her side but Tristan lets everyone know the truth.
Performances
The lead actors do not really impress. Paola Locatelli and Simon Rérolle both had the opportunity to play Célène and Tristan more effectively.
Ella Pellegrini as Vanessa also underperforms, despite the fact that her character is more of an Instagram celebrity and lacks depth.
Aymeric Fougeron does a terrific job in the limited amount of screen time that he receives for the character of Pierre.
In the part of Charlotte, Hélose Janjaud plays a supporting actress. She does an excellent job in her role. Tao is played by Jin Xuan Mao, another supporting actor who does a fantastic job paying tribute to his part.
Positives
With its sexual allure and thrilling plot twists, the gripping plotline is a page-turner that will have you gasping for air. Rachel Suissa displays a good deal of the directing guts necessary to execute her screenplay, which she co-wrote with Slimane-Baptiste Berhoun.
The film’s energy is at its most vibrant in the corners, where supporting characters dance at parties while sporting blue mohawks, nun and mermaid costumes. The setting of Biarritz is great.
It is exciting to see how the LGBTQIA+ community has been portrayed in the movie “Dangerous Liaisons”. There is no denying the characters Tao with Ben and Charlotte with Oscar and Ariel, have incredible chemistry with one another.
Negatives
The reason why the original work has been adapted so frequently is due to how compelling the plot is. However, despite the fact that it still shines, this narrative has already been recounted several times, therefore there is nothing novel about it.
Instead of giving the viewers a complex plotline, the characters are more designed to appeal to the people and to pleasure them. In this romantic drama film, adolescents are inaccurately portrayed. The movie isn’t self-aware enough to know whether it’s a guilty pleasure or a bad representation of teenagers.
Both the editing and the background music could have been much better. The movie’s tone is inconsistent and unsure of what it is intended to be. The music never really feels appealing and also does not quite fit the scenes.
Verdict
Dangerous Liaisons is watchable with an engaging plot; however, the film lacks in some other departments.
Rating: 2.5/5
Also Read: Dangerous Liaisons ending explained: Does Célène forgive Tristan?