Puppylove (2013) User Reviews

Flatters to deceive

[grantss · 5/10 · 24 September 2014]

Puppylove seemed to be set to be a very interesting drama. It contained some unusual characters, complex relationships and had the temerity to deal with a few taboo subjects.

Then it suddenly ended.

Instead of attempting to supply solutions, or at least tackling the issues, the writers and director just seemed to give up on the problems. The ending is incredibly disappointing.

The other disappointing thing was the performance of the lead actress, Solene Rigot. Admittedly, her character was meant to be shy and sullen, but she overdid the quietness and expressionlessness. She was Kristen Stewart-like, she was that bland (and that is not a light insult).

Grown

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 26 November 2021]

Before you get ... well before you think something that isn't true: the girls in the movie were already of age when they shot their scenes. Something that is not suggested (age wise) when it comes to their respective characters.

Of course that being considered they are ahead of what their age or their body should look like. That actually is not the right way to put it. The way their bodies supposedly should look like for anyone else than themselves.

Two girls, who are quite different. One is quite mesmerized by how the other one is: open about sex. And while she says she is not into what the other one is doing, it does seem like a part of her is yearning to be more open ... to explore her sexuality.

So a lot of nudity, but do not expect this to be too explicit. It is mostly about the drama and the relationships this affects (no pun intended) - their own and the ones they have outside their bond. Quite provocative - and maybe too much for some to watch.

It's a good movie but not great

[jordondave-28085 · 6/10 · 31 January 2023]

Co-written and directed by Delphine Lehericey focusing on a teenage girl, Diane (Solene Rigot) showcasing her adventures to her sexual identity and perhaps toward approaching to her adult hood as she is living with her young brother and her single parent dad. As we almost see her being pressured by a former friend, she doesn't go through with it. And it is during then as she meets the new neighbor, Julia (Audrey Bastien) moving next door is when her sexual identity is tested.

A realization movie consisting of a baffling ending that can be interpreted as ambiguous, but it can be the result that I have not seen enough French movies.

Naughty, But In A Nice Way

[clintstevens · 9/10 · 8 June 2019]

I stumbled upon this film on a 'free movie' site and decided to give it a go.

Wow, where to begin. The film is a tale of young girl's emotions and desires. Diane is a young teenager who wants to experience sex in the worst way. Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, she meets a new neighbor, a slightly older and more experienced teen who treats sex as just something to do to have fun, and nothing more. She decides to help her new friend get deflowered. The movie follows the two of them as they go from male to male, from a young bartender they take to their hotel room to a young stranger in a club who won't have sex with Diane because he has a girlfriend, but is more that willing to let her perform oral sex on him.

At one point, because of her frustration, Diane decides to leave the girl's shower room at school and march stark naked into the boy's shower room, much to the young boys delight. Diane is finally deflowered by a very young male who appears to live in a one room shack and owns a very nice sailboat. Of course, Diane's friend joins in, so it becomes a threesome. Diane still seems to be unfulfilled and it appears she wants to 'do it' with her father. He seems to be clueless to this, even though Diane comes to his bed at night to cuddle, with her arms wrapped around him. Of course, her friend ends up seducing the father and they are caught by Diane doing the deed outside, under a tree. This displeases Diane and she slaps her father's face and halfheartedly runs away, until her father comes across her walking down the road and brings her home. She is last seen gazing into space, with a cat-eats-mouse grin on her face.

The actors in 'Puppylove' appear to be underage but they are all in their twenties. The movie is a 'sex, love and rock and roll' coming of age tale, with plenty of nudity typical of European films, but one that would have a hard time being made in the US, except possibly by Larry Clark of Ken Park fame. One can only wish.

A French version of "Thirteen" (and a actually better version too)

[lazarillo · 17 November 2014]

This French movie is somewhat similar to the overrated American indie film "Thirteen" that came out a few years back. It involves a young teenage girl (Solene Rigot) who is still an inexperienced virgin despite some casual fumblings with a male "friend with benefits". When a perhaps older, and definitely more experienced, girl (Audrey Bastien) moves in next door to her, they become friends, and the virgin follows the promiscuous neighbor into various sexual adventures like a near threesome with an older bartender (in a hotel room adjoining the room of one of the girl's parents), and later an actual threesome while on the standard French-movie holiday.

What I hated about "Thirteen" was the alarmist and hypocritically moralistic attitude. Everybody knows that many teenagers have sex, and a lot of males vividly remember having sex with teenage girls when they were teenagers or a little older. There's no good reason to shy away from the subject like American films do (except maybe in PG-13 movies actually aimed at impressionable teenagers), and if you're worried about creepy male adults, there's certainly no shortage of "barely legal" XXX porn in America--I doubt they bother much with movies like this. French movies don't necessarily glamorize teen sex, but they don't treat it as purely comical and consequence-free when the protagonist are horny teenage guys, and then turn around and become horribly alarmist when the protagonists are teenage girls. They treat it seriously, but also in a more matter-of-fact and in less judgmental matter.

The two actresses in "Thirteen" were actually about fifteen at the time and easily looked 20, so even though they didn't show nudity or anything, they did NOT exactly de-glamorize teen sex, and as a result the movie seemed more than a little hypocritical. The actresses in this actually are over 18, but look younger, especially Solene Rigot. Her sex scenes are less graphic, but perhaps a little uncomfortable because she genuinely looks about 15. The more mature-looking Audrey Bastien has full-frontal nudity and pretty graphic sex scenes, but even this actually feels more honest and less exploitative than most American films on this subject.

The one problem though is the end, which I won't reveal, but it's a VERY common plot twist in French movies like "In a Wild Moment" and "Girls Can't Swim" that probably has less to do with the real-life behavior of teenage girls than it does the sex fantasies of middle-age men. The female director can't help but indulge in this too, but it is not treated in a very exploitative manner (and is the least graphic of the sex scenes). I also appreciated that the very end was not the consequence-free ending of "In a Wild Moment" OR the ridiculously melodramatic ending of "Girls Can't Swim", even if some reviewers did find it frustratingly open-ended.

Fantastic acting and cinematography

[hartley-luke · 10/10 · 22 December 2020]

A wonderfully casted and acted film. Natural performances that make you feel like you are looking into the lives of the characters. Very well done.

Emotional, Realistic Look

[cdsdeforest · 8/10 · 23 April 2023]

A girl moves in a house next door to the protagonist of this emotionally deep, sexually explicit movie of postpubescent sexualulity. It is everything a literary movie should be: smart, real, and insightful. An emotional film that will break your heart. Solène Rigot, who plays Diane, is from a broken home, and loves her father, but she is becoming a woman. One day someone her age moves in next door, and in a window across the way, Diane sees a girl being slapped around by her father. Julia (the abuse victim) comes over and introduces herself, and Diane and Julia become good friends. What makes Julia such a bad girl isn't much explored, but she is both compassionate and troubled. Julia takes Diane under her wing and the two take off in exploration.

The paltry lack of reviews here comes not from being unworty, in my opinion, but uncomfortably real. Not all are as open and honest in life as Diane and Julia, and they are a dynamic duo until one gets the upper hand... How the friend fights back is poignant, painful, and sad. It brought tears to my eyes.

This is a good movie, and although there is nudity and grafic scenes of sex, it hits a home run worthy of any serious-thinking adult.