It's tempting to call this film a dark comedy-it is after all based on a novel by author Ruth Rendell-but for all the wit (and there is plenty) there is very little darkness in this playful psychological drama.

| Aug 27, 2023

Full of sharp observations and devious twists and turns.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2021

Wasting too much time on trying to hit the full gamut of Claire's possible emotions is what drags the film down from what it has the potential to be.

| Jan 15, 2021

Featuring winning performances from Romain Duris and Anais Demoustier, The New Girlfriend is one of Ozon's most successfully transgressive titles over the last decade, and will hopefully be recuperated as such.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 13, 2020

Though its respect for the characters and concluding vision of an unconventional family is admirable, The New Girlfriend is most convincing when simply depicting friendship.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 10, 2019

From the opening close-ups of a costumed bride slowly revealed to be an embalmed corpse, The New Girlfriend wants to keep you unbalanced and curious, but like a lot of Ozon films, it never quite gets out of its own head.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 17, 2019

In The New Girlfriend, viewers are given a piece that walks the tightrope between drama and comedy, thriller and thinkpiece. This is a film that artfully ponders the process of grief while also finding rebirth from within.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 5, 2019

The film devolves into a slightly timid exercise in kitsch; it's the sort of thing Pedro Almodóvar would do a lot more convincingly.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 5, 2018

The New Girlfriend is perhaps best experienced as variations on a theme, rather than an organically developed story; I just wish that were the experience Ozon had intended.

| Original Score: C | Oct 5, 2018

The political dynamic that would have made the film simply topical turns into a psychological dynamic that makes the film and its relationships more complicated and unpredictable.

| Aug 29, 2018

In life and cinema, trans women's lives are often extremely difficult. Ozon is generous enough to imagine a path around their usual obstacle courses.

| Feb 15, 2018

The reason this is one of Ozon's most approachable and soft-centred films is that it is one of his most radically activist.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 21, 2017

With The New Girlfriend, [Franois] Ozon reminds us that defying labels isn't something we outgrow, but often a natural part of a person's identity, of any age.

| Aug 14, 2017

The real problem is that the two storylines bump up against each other with a tonal inconsistency that backs us against a wall. A deus ex machina is required to tie up the narrative, and it's a clunky one.

| Jul 28, 2017

While there is occasional delight of artful satire, fanciful farce, psychological undercurrent and political breadth, it soon becomes evident, as the intricate subplots and subtexts unfold, Ozon has rather overstretched himself again.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | May 12, 2016

Ozon, perhaps not entirely purposely, addresses the very timely issue of trans and non-binary gender identity, yet he does it within the framework of his usual style and preoccupations - and shortchanges neither.

| May 3, 2016

A strong thematic undercurrent pits bourgeois social conventions against authentic self-definition and ultimate freedom to live without shame or undue social limitations.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 26, 2016

...an intelligent investigation of hearts that don't know quite what they want.

| Original Score: 88/100 | Jan 9, 2016

Arguably reminiscent of 'camp' Ozon entries like Angel and 8 Women, this has good enough work from Duris, but is truly saved by the lovely and lively Demoustier.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 21, 2015

While many "gay" and "identity" films wallow in weightiness, Ozon has always rejected categorizing cinema in the same way that he has embraced sexual fluidity.

| Original Score: B | Dec 3, 2015