Directed by Gilles Lellouche, L’Amour Ouf is a romantic drama comedy featuring standout performances by François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos, supported by a rich ensemble cast. Officially selected for competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the film hit theaters on October 16, 2024. It will soon be accessible to streaming audiences on Netflix starting January 23, 2026, broadening its reach in the streaming landscape.
One of the most anticipated French films of the year, it generated a lot of buzz due to its star-studded cast that truly promises to impress: François Civil, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Alain Chabat, Benoît Poelvoorde, Vincent Lacoste, Jean-Pascal Zadi, Élodie Bouchez, Karim Leklou, Raphaël Quenard. Joining these familiar faces are fresh talents Anthony Bajon, Mallory Wanecque, and Malik Frikah.
In northern France during the 1980s, teenagers Jackie and Clotaire cross paths and ignite a love that’s as passionate as it is turbulent. Caught between social constraints, wrong turns, and life’s inevitable separations, their relationship endures through the years, facing breaks and excesses along the way. It’s a love story shaped by harsh realities, but also marked by their profound inability to let go of each other.
Selected for the official competition at last year's Cannes Film Festival, L'Amour Ouf by Gilles Lellouche is set to hit French theaters on October 16, 2024. The story is rooted in Northern France in the 1980s. Jackie (Mallory Wanecque) and Clotaire (Malik Frikah) grow up amidst school halls and bustling docks. She focuses on her studies, he’s a dreamer. But fate intervenes, and their worlds collide, sparking a fiery love. Life may try to keep them apart, but nothing can break their bond — they’re like the two ventricles of the same heart.
By crafting a sprawling, multi-decade romantic epic, Gilles Lellouche structures his story into uneven sections. The result is a remarkably dense (perhaps too much?) work that suffers somewhat from its length (almost three hours), despite a very compelling first third that arguably outshines what follows. With a keen eye for detail—especially in the authentic recreation of the 1980s through sets, costumes, and music—the opening of L’Amour Ouf is sure to evoke nostalgia in a segment of viewers.
In fact, it’s teenage versions of Jackie and Clotaire, played by Mallory Wanecque and Malik Frikah, who turn out to be the most touching, thanks to their immaturity and over-the-top behavior. Compared to their adult counterparts (François Civil and Adèle Exarchopoulos), who blur the lines between the characters and the stars playing them.
While Lellouche clearly aims to demonstrate his skill and deep understanding of cinema, his direction quickly slips into exaggeration. The camera, highly expressive, piles on effects and visual excess, sometimes overpowering the emotional impact.
In trying too hard to balance depth and style, blending quirky characters with the relentless flow of the camera, L’Amour Ouf sometimes seems to lose sight of its emotional core.
L’Amour Ouf
Film | 2024
In theaters on: October 16, 2024
Available on Netflix from January 23, 2026
Dramatic comedy | Runtime: 2h 45m
Directed by Gilles Lellouche | Starring François Civil, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Mallory Wanecque, Malik Frikah
Country: France
With L’Amour Ouf, Gilles Lellouche delivers an ambitious romantic epic, characterized by bold direction and a star-studded cast. Blending elements of a coming-of-age story, forbidden love, and social commentary, the film embraces its stylistic excesses and sweeping length to depict a love considered eternal, unaffected by time and wounds. A generous, occasionally overflowing cinematic venture, it continues the tradition of contemporary French cinema, often noted for its spectacular and emotionally charged storytelling.
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