Sorry Angel

Hailed as the heir to the nouvelle vague after Inside Paris (2006) and Love Songs (2007), Christophe Honoré has never fulfilled his promise. But he provides several moments of quiet and courageous introspection in this poignant drama set in the same early 1990s as Robin Campillo's 2017 Aids movie 120 Beats per Minute. In contrasting the intimate relationships of 35 year-old HIV-positive Parisian playwright Pierre Deladonchamps and 22 year-old provincial bisexual Vincent Lacoste, Honoré runs the risk of over-familiarity in re-examining the tropes that have sustained gay cinema since the mid-1980s. But, once Lacoste lays eyes on Deladonchamps at a Rennes screening of Jane Campion's The Piano, the focus becomes sharper, as Lacoste seeks to belong to the milieu the older man shares with neighbour Denis Podalydès, hustler Quentin Thébault and dying ex-lover, Thomas Gonzalez. The performances are first-rate and Honoré deftly structures the action to reflect the mood of the times.