Young & Beautiful
IFC Films | Release Date: April 25, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
8
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianJamie S. RichApr 3, 2014
Young & Beautiful is mysterious and erotic, though the ending may leave some as cold as Isabelle. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 27, 2013
A fascinating contemplation of adolescent sexuality that will be a star-making platform for its young lead, Marine Vacth. Read full review
85
NPRBob MondelloApr 26, 2014
Filmmaker Francois Ozon is a young writer/director known for provocative work with mature stars — Kristin Scott Thomas was in his last picture, Catherine Deneuve in the one before that. And in Young and Beautiful, he establishes that you don't have to be young to be beautiful by having a still stunning Charlotte Rampling drop by to give his young star a life lesson. Or six. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 23, 2014
It’s remarkably assured and subtle work, worthy of comparison to Catherine Deneuve’s brilliantly blank turn in Buñuel’s film. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnMay 27, 2013
At times a rich, intimate observation of emerging sexuality, the movie also maintains a quiet, observational rhythm that peaks around wintertime when things grow dark for the character and then more or less watches her grow up. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony LaneApr 30, 2014
His (Francois Ozon) theme could hardly be less original (think of "Bonjour Tristesse"), but the tautness is that of a horror film. [5 May 2014, p.85]
80
Total FilmJames MottramApr 3, 2014
Ozon keeps the melodrama at bay to deliver a typically subversive study of growing pains. And in Vacth he’s found a real star-in-waiting. Read full review
80
EmpireIan FreerApr 3, 2014
Another typically assured piece of work from Ozon with a showstopping turn from newcomer Vacth. Read full review
80
VarietyLeslie FelperinMay 27, 2013
A nuanced, emotionally temperate study of a precocious youth. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 27, 2013
François Ozon’s Young & Beautiful is, in the very best sense, a film that won't add up. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 8, 2014
Taken as a whole, the movie is far-fetched and even faintly ridiculous; and yet, in the moment to moment, it's compelling and truthful. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 25, 2014
He uses Vacth, a beauty who somewhat resembles the young Nastassja Kinski or Dominique Sanda, for her eerie, implacable hauteur. There is a mask behind her mask. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyApr 25, 2014
Young and Beautiful doesn't have the eerie power of some of Ozon's other films, like "In the House" or "Swimming Pool," but it is still a fascinating experience. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyApr 23, 2014
Young & Beautiful, with its barrage of fairly graphic sex scenes, is a throwback to the erotically charged, envelope-pushing Euro art-house films of the '60s and '70s such as Blow-Up and Last Tango in Paris. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasApr 21, 2014
The film's increasingly unnerving story mostly unfolds with minimal flair, intensely focused as it is on its steely and enigmatic protagonist. Read full review
70
The DissolveScott TobiasApr 23, 2014
Ozon tosses an abundance of twisted psychology into the stew, but he leaves the audience to sort it out for themselves. Young & Beautiful has the detached air of other Ozon productions, and Vacth gives so little away as Isabelle that she’s eternally an unsolved problem. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kiva ReardonMay 15, 2014
Never amounts to anything more than its title’s shallow descriptors. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 12, 2014
Vacth is good throughout. It's tough to make a disaffected character hold your interest, but she does. Read full review
60
Village VoiceSteve EricksonApr 22, 2014
Young & Beautiful is more interesting once Isabelle's secret is out, when it's more about the way other people react to this prematurely jaded girl who seems to have stepped out of a Lorde song. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawApr 3, 2014
François Ozon's new film is a luxurious fantasy of a young girl's flowering: a very French and very male fantasy, like the pilot episode of the world's classiest soap opera... But this is well-crafted and well-acted. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonDave CalhounMay 27, 2013
It's to Ozon's credit that he never serves up easy answers. Read full review
50
New York PostFarran Smith NehmeApr 23, 2014
As reactions to budding sexuality go, it’s a little extreme. And it’s also contrived; Isabelle’s decision never makes any emotional, let alone logical, sense. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKevin JagernauthMay 27, 2013
Ozon wants to have it both ways with Young & Beautiful, using a young woman's risk-filled sexual awakening as an illustration of coming-of-age, while also demanding a realism from a situation that he keeps far from being rationalized and justified. Read full review
40
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 24, 2014
What is most striking about this movie is how un-self-conscious it is as it conducts a prurient and superficial inquiry into adolescent female sexuality. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 22, 2014
Fortunately, a few striking sequences break up the tedium. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 19, 2014
Ozon has created a monster that he can’t seem to let go of. Isabelle doesn’t just frighten her mother (and us). She seems to terrify Ozon, and I’m not sure I want to know why. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 24, 2014
All we’re left with is the sight of older men hiring a gorgeous young woman to take her clothes off and fulfill their desires. If nothing else, Ozon does leave us wondering whether he intended such an uncomfortable parallel between life and art. Read full review
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