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Ozon first read Chambers’s [source] novel as a teenager and his adaptation blends the prickly joy of that first encounter with the stylistic confidence of a film-maker revisiting an old flame. Gorgeously shot on super-16 by cinematographer Hichame Alaouie, ["Summer of 85"] has the tangible texture of its retro setting, filtered through a nostalgic lens that seems to supersaturate the image, amplifying emotions.

At first, "Summer of 85" seems to occupy a generic Venn-overlap between a summer of sexual awakening, a coming-of-age drama and a dark psychological thriller... As time goes on, it becomes a soapier, soppier tale in which the lovers make solemn oaths to each other to dance on the grave of the one who dies first, a gesture easily misunderstood.

It's a film that beautifully captures the thrill of being young and the rush of first love, but keeps a mystery element bubbling in the background so that things not only don’t become too saccharine, but also land up on a surprising note.

A sumptuously shot, nostalgic bildungsroman framed by a bittersweet darkness, the film deploys many well-worn tropes of the coming of age drama. But they’re executed with such a light, self-aware confidence that "Summer of ’85" has wit, warmth and charm to spare.

The intense performances, the almost otherworldly beauty of the cast and setting, the bluntness of some of the dialogue and the fact that Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’ feature so prominently all make sense in the context of a creative teenager’s own recollection of his doomed first love. That is why, as over-the-top and broad as it sometimes is, "Summer of 85" is also one of Ozon’s most moving films to date.

A stunningly inert movie from a filmmaker whose work usually vibrates with passion... Ozon struggles to find something that interests him in this story of young love turned tragic, a movie that will draw comparisons to “Call Me By Your Name,” but that never conveys its own passion or emotion to the audience. It's a strange misfire from the director.

Many will find the film’s aborted thriller elements to add to the mystery, but it comes off as a ruse. The eventual reveal of what exactly happened to David is oddly unemotional... Once the characters are split apart, a hard truth is revealed: Despite the strong performances from Lefebvre and Voisin, Alex and David never feel fully formed. The most interesting thing about them is their relationship––on their own, neither can carry a film.

There’s strong work from both Lefebvre and Voisin but Ozon doesn’t give their characters enough distinguishable colour and so there’s a limit to how much they can bring to the table. Unlike the woozy love at its centre, "Summer of 85" doesn’t haunt in the way that it should. It fades when it should burn.

For as prolific a filmmaker as Ozon continues to be, his occasional misses are far outweighed by his offbeat and insightful forays, particularly in the realm of sexuality — the best parts and the crazy-making parts. For audiences equally interested in his insights about loss and about love, there’s plenty to ponder in “Summer of ’85.”

"Summer of ’85” is ultimately not entirely successful, because its disparate tones don’t always mesh. But more than that, the carefree, romantic stuff is so enjoyable, and so sincere, that in retrospect, one wishes the entire film had lived there – both in that flush of first love (or at least lust), and in reckoning afterward with the complexities of that emotion.

Sunny, seductive, and strangely refreshing even when things get dark, “Summer of 85” is the cinematic equivalent of someone going back to their childhood home and seeing it through the bleary eyes of an adult, clouded by memory but also liberated from the teenage myopia that once made every new emotion feel like a matter of life and death.

In terms of style, "Summer of 85" is a throwback to the bold, insouciant spirit of the director's earliest works. But here, the story and the characters' supposed naiveté and the almost-too-obvious stylistic flourishes aren't just nods to his younger, less-refined M.O. They are actually part of a master storyteller's tools to seduce a grown-up audience into considering how youngsters not only experience their own lives but also how they process and talk about them.