Where to watch: ‘Paris, 13th District opens this Friday, April 15th at the Landmark Westwood in Los Angeles and select Laemmle theaters.

The beginning stages of any romantic relationship are often challenging to navigate. The endless “does he like me like I like him?” is met with “if he likes you, you’ll know” but you never truly know so you’re just confused. It’s torture!

What Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades) captures so honestly is this in-between stage that is so hard to define. Oscar-nominated director Jacques Audiard (The Sisters Brothers, Dheepan) explores the complexities of modern dating in this simple (mostly) black and white story of connection and loneliness.

Émilie (Lucie Zhang) is in a rut. A dead-end job as a telemarketer continuously has her in low spirits, which only worsens when she unexpectedly finds herself in need of a roommate. Then comes Camille (Makita Samba), a handsome schoolteacher who literally appears on her doorstep, also in need of a place to stay. The two become fast friends with benefits, toeing the line between love and lust, until their relationship comes to a screeching halt. Camille doesn’t want a relationship. Not with Émilie, anyway.

Nearby, Nora (Noémie Merlant) is returning to school after growing bored of her career in real estate. An unfortunate case of mistaken identity sees her getting confused for cam girl Amber Sweet (Jehnny Beth), an identity that Nora is completely humiliated by. When her curiosity becomes too overwhelming, Nora seeks out her doppelganger and, much to her surprise, finds herself consumed by Amber’s charm.

Now, this wouldn’t be nearly as interesting a story if the lives of these four characters didn’t intersect with each other. But they do. Raring hormones create intense sexual desire, but innate self-doubt casts a shadow on self-confidence. This leads to questioning their worthiness for love at all.

A love square consisting of three young women and one man, Paris, 13th District is a sexually charged dark comedy that tells the timeless story of relationship drama through the fresh eyes of our protagonists. The multicultural casting is a breath of fresh air, with special praise going to Noémie Merlant. It’s becoming her niche to bare all – emotionally and physically – and she does it with such empathy here. A solid performance that is backed up by her equally engaging co-stars is further brought to life by the score from French electronic music producer Rone.

More and more modern couples are embracing sexual freedom and forgoing the traditional relationship structure; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Jacques Audiard weaves different narrative threads together to show how millennials are embracing rule-less relationships and creating special connections free from labels. Nominated for the Palm d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, Paris, 13th District is a snapshot of cultural exploration and liberation.

Distributed by UniFrance. ‘Paris, 13th District (Les Olympiades)’ is awaiting a US release.

This review originally ran on November 15, 2021, during AFI FEST.