Lection (2019)

Lection: Directed by David Axe. With Mike Amason, Jennifer Hill, Bradley J. Petit, Sanethia Dresch. LECTION is an indie thriller about a local election in a post-apocalyptic society.

“This yearu0026#39;s Palm du0026#39;Or winner is a coming of age story about a teenage girl, Adele (the literal title in French is The Life of Adele), who discovers her homosexuality and begins a relationship with Emma, a college student. For a while, I was thinking this was a good but fairly unremarkable entry into the queer cinema canon, but, over the filmu0026#39;s three hours, well, you see why the long running time was necessary. It is just a very detailed picture of a life. It feels more real than most films – it feels like more time has past and that weu0026#39;ve just felt Adeleu0026#39;s growth. Frankly, I didnu0026#39;t feel the length of it at all – I wanted it to be longer. It really helps that the actresses are so perfect. Adele Exarchopoulos is simply fantastic – this is the performance of the year, really. Her face is so expressive. The film takes place over several years, and you really do see her grow from a child to an adult. Lea Seydoux plays Emma. Her role is less demanding, but sheu0026#39;s still great in it. Now, the biggest story of this film has probably been the graphic sex scenes. My opinion on them: I actually do think theyu0026#39;re a bit too graphic, gratuitous and almost pornographic. I try to justify them artistically in my mind, and Iu0026#39;m afraid I canu0026#39;t. Thereu0026#39;s a plot point near the end where you kind of have to know that the girlsu0026#39; sex life was fantastic, but Iu0026#39;m not sure we had to see it in anywhere near as much detail as we did. Theyu0026#39;re without a doubt awkward to sit through, but they donu0026#39;t ruin the film either.”